I am not and Eagles fan or a Patriots fan so and for the record I don't even watch NFL Football my love is college football through and through, but I always watch the Super Bowl. This years Superbowl was fantastic high scoring and just an all around shoot out between the clearly 2 best teams in the league.
Chris Collinsworth may have damaged his career a bit as a commentator because honestly he showed himself as a Tom Brady Fanboy who clearly did not want the Eagles to win. He praised the hell out of Tom Brady which in all due respect he is one of the best players ever but Collinsworth's amount of praise was a little too much for a neutral party. But there are two moments that really pissed me off about his commentating this game and both were on touchdown plays
Foles to Clement TD
Chris Collinsworth really expressed his disappointment with this touchdown which to a point is understandable and fair but he just would not let the play go. I agree this play is questionable and I see why the referees decided to make it stand because it was a crap shoot. There is know way to tell in this day and age if he had possession while both feet were in bounds by the camera shots that were available so the refs let it stand. I get the other side of the argument too, the ball does appear to bobble a little on his first step and he does step out of bounds on his third step so that would make it an incomplete pass but it could have gone any way.
Collinsworth after the refs upheld the call said, "I give up" in disappointment. The annoying thing is he would not let this shit go he brought it up and replayed it 3 times, way later in the game and still tried to make his point on a questionable call that was settled by the refs a quarter ago and he was still arguing. This pissed me off because I didn't want to hear his point of view anymore even though I see what he is trying to say but his opinion could not change the call nor did it matter to the game at all.
Foles to Ertz TD
This is the part of the game that really grinds my gears. First off there is no question this was a touchdown which I will explain in a second. Both NBC commentators refused to point out the fact that this was an absolute touchdown and tried to deny its possibility of being a touchdown even though the points they were trying to make were non existent.
The question was if Ertz was a runner or a receiver before he broke the goal line and fumbled. If he were to be considered a runner this play would be a TD but if he were to be considered a receiver this would be an incomplete pass. What are u talking about runner or receiver? Well the NFL has a stupid rule which says if you don't take at least 2 steps before the ball hits the ground and you lose control you are considered a receiver and it is an incomplete pass. So if you have taken 2 or more steps and then the ball comes lose it is a fumble.
It is a straight forward rule that Collinsworth debated with to claim it was not a touchdown. OK so you can see clearly Zach Ertz took 3 steps after the catch or 4 if you count his dragging foot. He took 3 or 4 steps with full control of the ball and dove about 4 yards to break the goal line. This play according to the NFL rule is a touchdown and there should be no question. The commentators Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth refused to see the facts and started to make BS arguments about the fumble. Collinsworth tried to claim that Ertz rolled and then lost the ball but that was horse crap.
First Off the fumble doesn't matter because the player had full possession of the ball before it broke the goal line. But lets pretend the fumble matters if he is still considered a runner which he is, on the dive across the goal line the ball came loose before his elbows hit the ground therefore it is a fumble. Ertz then recovered his fumble in the end zone so it doesn't matter, it is a touchdown. But it is a touchdown because he crossed the goal line with full possession after taking 3 maybe 4 steps. This play was late confirmed to be a touchdown by the refs which finally got the commentators to stop spewing the crap they were saying out of there mouths.
It amazes me when he says the ball comes out when he rolls and it clearly comes out on the initial dive. I believe Collinsworth had a bias toward Tom Brady and the Patriots and he did not keep his cool and he was looking for anything to overturn some of these Philadelphia touchdowns. Luckily the referees were spot on for the Super Bowl and made the correct calls and I just wanted to make this post to show how disgusted I am with the commentating and I have no respect for Collinsworth and his approach to commentating one of the biggest sporting events ever.
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