And maybe the toughest.

After 20 years in TV, he's at the top of his game. He's the new analyst on NBC "Sunday Night Football," the most-watched NFL game each week.

But Collinsworth's new NBC commitments means the father of four will miss most of his kids' football and soccer games

And he's in the unenviable position of following a legend, John Madden, TV's beloved football announcer.

"If you want to say, 'I'm not John Madden,' that's OK. Who else is?" says Collinsworth, 50, during a break from studying game films at his Fort Thomas home.

"I don't feel like I'm in a competition with John, but I won't be able to avoid that. I know I have at least a year of that coming, and I'm just going to put my head down and plow though it," says Collinsworth, who does the Denver-Chicago preseason game Sunday (8 p.m., Channels 5, 2) with longtime broadcaster Al Michaels.

"It's not like I stepped up and said, 'I'm going to show John Madden how to do this.' I'm just the next guy in line."

Collinsworth, whose aw-shucks folksiness has endeared him to fans since hosting WLW-AM's "SportsTalk" in the 1990s, isn't exactly just the next guy.

The former Bengals All-Pro receiver owns a record seven Emmys for best studio analyst on NBC and HBO's "Inside the NFL," plus another for best game analyst. He started doing NFL games on NBC in 1989, and became part of Fox's top broadcast team, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, after Madden left in 2002 for "Monday Night Football."

CBS Sports reporter Solomon Wilcots, a former Bengals teammate, says Collinsworth was the obvious choice for the job.

"Cris is smart. You'll learn something and you'll be entertained. Like with Madden," Wilcots says.

"People forget he was also on the No. 1 team on Fox," Al Michaels said in a conference call. "This is about as seamless a transition as you can have."

Despite reports in April that Madden had recommended Collinsworth as his successor, the truth is that Collinsworth was next in line before NBC premiered "Sunday Night Football" in 2006.

As soon as NBC got the rights, Dick Ebersol, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics chairman, told Collinsworth he would "do the games if John (Madden) ever retired," Collinsworth recalls.

Ebersol called Collinsworth again in April, when Madden abruptly retired to spend more time with his family. Ironically, the promotion costs Collinsworth family time.

Son Austin, 17, a senior, is the starting running back for Highlands High School, which won the state title in its class (5A) last year.

Ashley, 16, a junior, plays soccer and performs with the dance team. Jac, 14, plays freshman football. Katie, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Florida, her father's alma mater.

Last year, Collinsworth could see their games, then fly to New York late Saturday for NBC's Sunday night pregame show. But an NFL game analyst must go to the host city on Thursdays, interview the home team Friday, and meet the visiting team Saturday.

Collinsworth hopes to fly home often late Friday afternoons to see Austin play, and return that night to the game site.

"Dick (Ebersol) has been very nice about it," Collinsworth says. Madden retiring "three years from now would have been wonderful, when all the kids are out of high school ... But Dick asked me to do it, and he's meant so much to my career."

Loyalty is important to Collinsworth. He remained with "Inside the NFL" as his TV demands grew because the show was the first to offer him a job in 1989, one day after the Bengals cut him. Soon after WLW-AM asked him to fill in for Bob Trumpy, and NBC wanted him to do four NFL games as an analyst.

HBO executives had remembered how funny the skinny Cincinnati receiver was on "Inside the NFL" earlier that year, as the Bengals prepared to play San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIII.

"Cris was the greatest satellite guest we ever had," says Dave Harmon, HBO Sports vice president.

Harmon also was impressed by Collinsworth's eagerness to learn. Collinsworth - an accounting major was then working toward a law degree - says he quickly realized TV was more fun than being an attorney or an accountant.

Law school, however, provided skills that made him a top TV talent - researching and organizing material and building a case.

"I don't trust anybody's opinion other than my own. If I'm going to say something about a guy, I'm going to be willing to show that guy what I saw on tape," he says.

Unlike Madden, he won't draw on the screen with the Telestrator. And he'll fight any urge to say "Boom!" or "Bam!," as Madden did.

"I don't want to be John Madden. I've seen a lot of people fail trying to be John Madden," he says. "I've had a pretty good run of success being me. And if that's not good enough, I don't really care. I'm not going to change."

But he doesn't want viewers to forget Madden, a close friend. So every game, Collinsworth plans to mention Madden, perhaps when cameras catch a fat lineman's belly or steam coming off someone's head.

"I might say, 'I hope John is laughing about this,' so people will continue to think of him, because he's a national treasure," he says.

"It's probably an impossible task to in some way carry him forward in this broadcast team, but I'm determined to do it."