Collinsworth Hopes No One Gets His ‘Scam’

The TV repairman:

Cris Collinsworth thinks he’s stumbled upon the secret of life, but he’s not thinking of cashing in and writing a book about it. Right now, he says he’s hoping “No one catches onto my scam.”

The scam the ex-Cincinnati Bengals pass receiver speaks of is his constantly burgeoning broadcasting career, which, according to TV experts, appears limitless.

Asked to describe his contribution doing such things as hosting an HBO special “Record Breakers of Sports” Monday, Collinsworth drawls, “All I do is show up, goof off a little bit and try to have fun.”

And it works, as shown by his popular radio talk show in Cincinnati, the pro football stuff he’ll be doing for NBC this fall, his elevation to center stage on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” and a few other projects.

At the same time, Collinsworth and former teammate Boomer Esiason have an interest in a restaurant (“We own a toilet and a half”), he’s in law school (“It’s my fifth year and they’re thinking of giving me tenure”) and wife Holly presented him with a daughter recently (“As a matter of fact, I’m parenting today”).

Doesn’t sound much like a guy who spends most of his time looking to avoid work. “Actually,” Cris quips, “if I knew I was going to have so many fabulous things happen to me so quickly, I would have quit playing ball five years ago.

“The toughest part of my day is reading all the newspapers getting ready for the talk show. Fans in Cincinnati figure I know football, so they never give me much heat there. But it’s a baseball town and everybody knows they probably know more about the game than I do. Whenever my wife wants me to do something, I say ‘Can’t, Hon, I’m working here reading the papers.’ ”

The “Record Breakers” show covers the exploits of Hank Aaron, Roger Bannister, Mark Spitz, Bob Beamon, Billie Jean King and others and, according to Collinsworth, is a cut above similar shows in that “we’ll be giving you the person’s whole story.”

Obviously, politics isn’t the only thing that breeds strange bedfellows. Imagine the squeaky-clean Walt Disney empire getting involved with wild and woolly college football. The initial Disneyland Football Classic, with Colorado vs. Tennessee, airs on NBC Sunday. Who’da ever thunk it?

CBS will begin shipping about 40 hours of U.S. Open tennis our way with those late-evening half-hour wrapups Monday, with 5 1/2 salvos Sept. 1, 2 and 3. Beginning Monday, Aug. 27, USA Network has daily shows for five hours during the day and for three hours in the evening.

NBA Properties and an outfit called Skybox is coming out with a series of 300 player trading cards (available in November) and the product is sensational. So, start saving those nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar bills, Junior.

Bob Ferry will be doing the “NBA Insiders” show for NBC come the fall. Fortunately, the job won’t involve a team sinking or swimming with his talent assessments.