Pup reporter's first big story on Cris Collinsworth turned into a disaster in 1977

The recent announcement of Cris Collinsworth being named to the 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class for excellence as an analyst is one more achievement in a lifetime of honors both on and off the field that made him the pride of the Space Coast.

The Astronaut High School (Titusville, FL) alumnus was a highly-recruited quarterback and state champion in the Class 3A 100-yard-dash in 1976.  He signed with the Florida Gators and in his first game on Sept. 17, 1977, the freshman entered in the fourth quarter and threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gaffney in a 48-3 rout at Houston.  The play tied the longest pass completion in NCAA history.

Prior to Collinsworth’s record-breaking toss, this writer had the opportunity to interview him for the Gainesville Sun and introduce the talented freshman to Gator Nation. Unfortunately, the article did not go as well as planned.

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I was two years older than Collinsworth, just beginning my career in journalism while studying in Gainesville and was fortunate enough to earn a position with the local newspaper as its newest sports reporter.

As a player on Satellite High's football team, I had known of Collinsworth’s exploits in nearby Titusville. It was for this reason the editor thought I was a logical choice to interview him in a feature on the upcoming Florida High School All-Star football game to be played at Florida Field.

I met Collinsworth at Yon Hall, the athletes' dormitory, and as always, he was genial, pleasant, humorous and a great interview.  It was an article that would basically write itself and I was ecstatic when editors told me it would appear “above the fold” — my first headline!

The next morning, I could not wait to go out and buy a newspaper (we were students, we could not afford a subscription), but before I got out of bed, the phone rang in our apartment — it was Cris.

“I thought you knew me; how could you misspell my first name and have them use someone else’s photo?”

I was in shock when I purchased the edition and noticed they indeed had changed the spelling of his first name to the more natural spelling, Chris, and used the photo of another all-star player.

When I went to work that evening at the Sun’s office in downtown Gainesville, I immediately asked the editor what happened and he said they assumed since I was a neophyte reporter, I had simply misspelled his first name and they were trying to “protect me.” He had no excuse for the photo mishap other than the photographer must have misidentified him.

I was still traumatized my first big story was filled with grievous errors, but could not blame an editor that was trying to “protect me.” And Cris, being Cris, was very forgiving and laughed it off.

After a dreadful Orange & Blue scrimmage in 1978 in which head coach Doug Dickey had switched from a run-oriented option attack to a more pass happy system, Collinsworth changed positions, a story he recounted in a previous interview.

“The next spring, Coach Dickey went to the I-formation and discovered my true ability as a passing quarterback.  A disease called 'lack of spiral.' I was nothing-for-about-50 in the spring game. They switched me to wide receiver. I changed my goals.”

Collinsworth most likely exceeded those goals: he was a three-time All-SEC and two-time All-American performer at wide receiver, catching 120 passes for 1,937 yards and 14 touchdowns, and ran for two other touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score. He was inducted in the UF Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Collinsworth played eight seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and hauled in 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1981, played in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII, and was selected to three Pro Bowls.

Following the 1988 season, he made a smooth transition to the booth, where he became an award-winning sports broadcaster.

Like many who grew up on the Space Coast, I have continued to follow Collinsworth’s broadcast career and take pride in his accomplishments and am eternally grateful he is such an outstanding — and forgiving — talent.

John Janokaitis is Chief of Media Relations for Aerodyne Industries in Cape Canaveral.  He has been a correspondent covering sports for FLORIDA TODAY since 1979 when he graduated from the University of Florida.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: In 1977, a young reporter's story on Cris Collinsworth became a disaster