NBC Sports NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth was in midseason form for Thursday night's season-opener between the Bills and Rams in Los Angeles -- and not in a positive way.
The veteran broadcaster and former Bengals star came under criticism on social media on a couple occasions during Buffalo's beatdown of the reigning Super Bowl champions, particularly for his fawning and, at times, incoherent comments about Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
According to Collinsworth, Kupp, who is the reigning Super Bowl MVP, has few athletic gifts to speak of and instead turned himself into a superstar through hard work and sheer force of will.
While it's true that Kupp was relatively unheralded as a prospect owing to his small-school pedigree, he is nonetheless a third-generation NFL player and a former third-round draft pick. To suggest he is some kind of modern-day Rudy Ruettiger is simply a gross exaggeration.
To many users on Twitter, Collinsworth, who last season declared Kupp the best wide receiver in the NFL, was treading uncomfortably close to well-worn racialist tropes about the work ethic of white players in contract to the athletic superiority of their Black counterparts, particularly at skill positions.
Here's a selection of tweets criticizing Collinsworth's questionable commentary:
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram