NBC’s Cris Collinsworth Savagely Attacks Bill Simmons on Twitter

When celebrities send and delete a tweet, in most cases they go into the cyber ash heap of history for a very good reason. In other cases, the premature deletion of tweets constitutes a national tragedy. Fortunately for us, for these exact cases, we have screen save.

On Monday afternoon, the day after his Patriots lost to the Seattle Seahawks, newly-unemployed and well-documented Boston fan Bill Simmons sent out a tweet objecting to NBC Sunday Night Football color commentator Cris Collinsworth’s praise of the Seattle offensive line.

Though he did not include Collinsworth’s twitter handle, Simmons critique nonetheless demanded Collinsworth’s attention. The rest is internet history:

To greater understand the savagery of Collinsworth’s statement, note that the last episode of Simmons’ HBO television show Any Given Wednesday aired less than a week ago, meaning Simmons’ wound is quite fresh.

Simmons launched his show with the massive viral event where Affleck freaked out at the NFL for handing down Tom Brady’s four-game suspension. Later, following a decline in ratings, Simmons resorted to bringing on every liberal celebrity from Caitlyn Jenner to Jon Favreau in a futile attempt to revive the flailing show.

Collinsworth deleted the tweet shortly after sending it. But why? Simmons clearly took a shot at him and didn’t even have the guts to include his Twitter handle. So why delete?

It could have something to do with the fact that Collinsworth has spent much of the last several years trying to rehab his image. When he first came into broadcasting, the fan perception of Collinsworth ran the gamut from condescending to elitist to smug. Since then, Al Michaels’ broadcast partner has connected with and even endeared himself to the fans.

Stand warned, because despite his newly found, happy-go-lucky exterior, Collinsworth still clearly possesses the requisite skills necessary to engage in the dark arts of Twitter combat.

Just ask Bill Simmons.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn