Cris Collinsworth and Holly Collinsworth. | Source: Getty Images
Once a cheerleader for an opposing college team, Holly Collinsworth, Cris Collinsworth's wife, has been on team Cris for the past three decades. The couple has brought up four high-achieving children.
While her husband, Cris Collinsworth's voice is omnipresent in the homes of NFL supporters on Sundays, Holly Collinsworth, née Bankemper, has a life and career in small-town Kentucky.
The award-winning sports announcer has spoken about how lucky he is to have met his wife. As parents, they work as a team to care for their kids.
Ashley Collinsworth, NBC sportscaster Cris Collinsworth (C), and Holly Collinsworth attend the 142nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, 2016, in Louisville, Kentucky. | Source: Getty Images
Holly Stays Out of the Public Eye
Just before the commencement of her classes at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Holly Bankemper had a fateful encounter when she went for dinner with a friend at former NFL star Jeff Ruby's Cincinnati steakhouse. Ruby and a few friends connected her and Cris.
Though "flabbergasted" by the forwardness of his pals, the former University of Kentucky cheerleader agreed to a date the next day. As a prank, Cris' friends convinced him she was a 30-year-old divorced mom of two. She quickly dispelled this fib and informed him that she was not like the other women he had been dating.
As a young NFL star, his coach encouraged his players and often joined them when they "chased after women" in night clubs. At games, some female fans wore bikinis and painted "Cris 80" on their bellies.
Bankemper graduated from law school in 1988 and married Cris on June 3, 1989. She keeps a low profile as a practicing lawyer around Cincinnati. The lawyer has never given an interview and is rarely featured on her famous hubby's social media.
The former wide receiver has always encouraged his progeny to excel at sports and academics.
In the early 2000s, the couple built a colonial-style hilltop home with a beautiful view of the Ohio River in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
Cris likened their hometown to the fictional village of Mayberry in Andy Griffith's quaint small-town show from the '60s. The location has the advantage of being a few minutes away from downtown Cincinnati.
The TV personality praised his wife for being "really strong" to handle his busy travel schedule for work while they were raising their four kids. Though rough, he said that the routine worked out for them:
"By the time I get home, she's ready for a break, and I'm ready to hang with the kids."
Their Kids Are More Open to Public Life
Holly and Cris raised their four children out of the spotlight in small-town Kentucky, but they all have achieved acclaim in their chosen professions.
The former wide receiver has always encouraged his progeny to excel at sports and academics. However, he said that his wish was for them to be a great person above all:
"If none of the other stuff happens and you're a great person, then I'm okay with anything else that happens in your life—that's the highest standard."
Even before becoming the football captain at the University of Notre Dame, Austin Collinsworth's talent on the field made him so renowned; his Emmy award-winning father joked that he is now known as Austin's dad. A severe injury in 2014 forced him to hang up his cleats.
Katie Collinsworth Hughes is a public relations grad from the University of Florida. She was a production assistant for NBC's coverage of the 2019 London Olympic coverage. The mom of three is now the business marketing manager at GolfNow, a division of the Golf Channel.
Cris has praised his son Jac Collinsworth's natural abilities as a sports commentator, a skill he developed further when he covered sports at Notre Dame. He has worked in the sports division at NBC and ESPN.
The youngest Collinsworth, Ashley Collinsworth, was the dance team captain in high school and a runner on the Harvard track team. Her father was so proud of her going to Harvard that he'll only tell people that she was in Boston, forcing them to enquire further.
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