Collinsworth’s kids

I had a nice conversation with Gator great Cris Collinsworth Tuesday for a story I wrote for our Gainesville Magazine. As you know, he will replace John Madden in the booth with Al Michaels on Sunday Night Football.

Eventually, our conversation turned to his children because his daughter Katie just finished her freshman year at UF. Katie thought about going out for the UF soccer team, but decided against it.

“She watched them and realized it was a whole different level,” Collinsworth said.

He told me a funny story about Katie’s first visit to campus.

“She had been there before with me for different functions but this time she was going to see if she wanted to go to school there,” he said. ” She was supposed to be hosted by the soccer team but they had a game the next day and went to bed early. So when she gets back she tells me, ‘I thought I’d like Florida but it’s a little boring.’

“I was blown away. The University of Florida? Boring? I told her to try again. She went back and had a great time and came home to tell me that’s where she was going. Florida is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.”

One of Collinsworth’s sons, Austin, is a senior in Highlands High in Fort Thomas, Ky., and has been offered by Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Louisville and Stanford. The kid can “play anywhere” according to his proud dad and is being recruited as a wide receiver and defensive back.