NBC Sunday Night Football analyst and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth arrived at Paul Brown Stadium on Friday with a heavy heart — but the same sense of humor — after attending his father’s funeral in Florida on Thursday.

“I finally got a home game and still had to fly in for it,” joked Collinsworth, who lives just across the river from PBS in Fort Thomas, Ky.

“But it’s nice to be able to go home and sleep in my own bed,” Collinsworth added. “And actually I’ll be able to see my kids because our tickets are right below the booth, so I’ll throw stuff at them during the game.”

Abe Collinsworth, a member of Adolph Rupp’s 1958 University of Kentucky national championship basketball team, passed away last Saturday at the age of 76. But Cris still joined partner Al Michaels to call the Packers-Texans game in Houston on Sunday night.

“Most of my work was done because by the time you get to Saturday, I’m in pretty good shape,” Collinsworth said. “This was one was actually even harder because now you have all the funeral arrangements.”

Despite the busy, emotional week, Collinsworth was able to get in all of his film study and prep work for Sunday’s broadcast.

“It’s actually fun for me to get to study the Bengals,” he said. “In a weird twist, I know the Steelers better coming into it because we do three or four Steelers games every year, and we maybe do one Bengals game.

“On the old NFL Network and the iPad and all that stuff, I tend to always have the Bengals games on,” he added. “I want to keep up with them and know what is going on. It’s kind of fun for me to study the details of the team, which you can only do if you are actually calling the game. It takes too much time to do it otherwise.”

Collinsworth played for the Bengals from 1981-88. He was the franchise’s first 1,000-yard receiver and still holds the team record for receptions by a rookie with 67. His 1,009 receiving yards that year had stood as a rookie record until A.J. Green accumulated 1,057 last year.

“I’ve quit comparing my career to any of these phenoms out here,” said Collinsworth, who also ranks fourth in team history in four categories — career receptions (417), career receiving yards (6,698), average yards per reception (16.1) and fourth in 100-yard games (18).

When asked what impresses him about Green, Collinsworth said, “He’s phenomenal going and getting the ball. Everybody wants to talk about guys and how fast they are or whatever, but in my mind, the league is about going and getting the ball in the air. He has that third dimension, the ability to rebound, to go up and just get the ball, sort of like a defensive back, at its highest point.

“You’re afraid to leave him one on one because he’s such a strong, powerful kid going up in the air. He’s fun to watch. I’m really looking forward to seeing him in person.”

The game itself is a rare one for Sunday Night Football in that neither team has a winning record. But Collinsworth said that’s what makes this matchup intriguing.

“In many ways this game is more interesting because these teams are sitting there with those undefeated or one-loss records,” he said. “It’s not an elimination game by any means, but it’s a game of significance for both teams. At some point in this 10-game sprint to the finish line you have to pick up momentum.”