Cris’ advice to Romo and Cutler has bite

Tony Romo and Jay Cutler will be under intense scrutiny in each ex-quarterback’s first year in the broadcast booth. They’ll probably be ripped by every fan who disliked them during their playing days and will inevitably be accused of playing favorites. Cris Collinsworth’s advice for all of that? “Get a dog.” Collinsworth, the former Bengals wide receiver and longtime broadcaster who does color commentary on NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecasts, said on NFL Network that the top question he gets asked in every city he goes to is why does he hate that city’s team? With Romo and Cutler going immediately from the field to the booth and both having their share of critics already, they’re sure to get some of the same questions. But as Collinsworth explained, it’s an occupational hazard.

“You’ve just got to be honest,” Collinsworth said. “I’m a relatively nice guy. I never say anything controversial to my family or friends hardly ever. But if you’re gonna pay me to actually hear what I think, OK. OK. Then you’re gonna hear what I think. It doesn’t mean it’s right, necessarily, but if you’re gonna pay for my opinion — because I’m gonna study it hard. I’m gonna go home, I’m gonna live in my basement, I’m gonna watch the film. I’m gonna try to help you watch the broadcast the best that I can. I’m gonna work as hard as I can to know everything about those two teams, and then you’re gonna know what I think about them at the end of the day.”

Collinsworth recalled when his kids introduced him to Twitter and he tried to answer people back as if they were texting before his children warned not to engage. At the end of the first game Collinsworth called after joining Twitter, he said fans were asking him to do things “that aren’t physically possible.”

When a host mentioned not being able to kiss one’s own butt, Collinsworth replied, “if it were only that bad.”

So the criticism will be extreme for Romo and Cutler, perhaps even more so than when they were players because fans who don’t like them may have them calling games their team is playing in.

“If you’re really doing it right and earning your paycheck, you should be deadcold honest with what your feelings are,” Collinsworth said. “And what the heck? If I don’t do it, someone else is gonna get paid to do it, so I might as well do it.”

And after you do, avoid Twitter and go home to your dog.

“Keep your head low, baby,” Collinsworth said. “You just have to accept it for what it is.”