So Long, Kerry!

Kerry Collins announced his retirement today after 16 up and down years in the NFL. Collins had a rocky start to his NFL career after being selected by the Carolina Panthers #5 overall in the 1995 Draft. He never lived up to the hype in Carolina, throwing 49 INT's to 39 TD's while completing only 52.6% of his passes. During the 1998 season Collins was released by the Panthers after telling coach Dom Capers his heart wasn't in it anymore after starting the season 0-4. The Saints picked him up just before the police did for drunk driving. It seemed as if Collins would be nothing but another first round flameout.

The rumors about his alcohol problem had already begun making the rounds. He made national headlines in 1997 after it became public that he had called Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammed a racially derogatory term that begins with the letter "N" and supposedly also used similar language with Norberto Garrido, an offensive lineman of Hispanic heritage. Following the 1998 season he was not re-signed by the Saints. However, the New York Giants took a flyer on him and signed him in February of 1999.

New York isn't exactly the best place to try to resurrect a career that has been tainted by alcohol and racial bigotry (see: Rocker, John), even if it was inadvertent and an isolated incident. However, Collins would begin to live up to the promise he had showed in college and in 1996 when he made the Pro Bowl. This is when I began to take a true interest in Collins since I was a Giants fan.

The Giants had been looking for a quarterback since Phil Simms retired. The position was a revolving door of mediocrity with Kent Graham, Dave Brown, and Danny Kanell. That is until Kerry Collins showed up. His Giants career got off to a slow start, going 2-5 in 1999 but he completed 57.4% of his passes and began to get his life under control. The next year he led the Giants to a 12-4 record and steamrolled the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship game, throwing for 381 yards and 5 TD's. Collins had brought the Giants back to the Super Bowl. His Super Bowl performance was less than memorable but to me it didn't matter. I was 10 years-old the last time the Giants had made it to the Super Bowl. Now, at 19, I was seeing my favorite team back in the Big Game and able to appreciate it more. The loss hurt but the Giants finally had a QB. The 2001 season began with high hopes for the Giants. They were coming off their Super Bowl run and, at least to me, there was nowhere to go but up.

Even though the 2001 season was disappointing one for the Giants as they finished 7-9 but the future still looked bright. Collins had brought some stability to the QB position and had a young Amani Toomer to throw to and Tiki Barber running the ball. In 2002, Collins would become the first Giants QB since Phil Simms in 1984 to throw for more than 4,000 yards with 4,073 yards and led the Giants to a 10-6 mark and another playoff berth. Sadly, the Giants spit the bit in that game against San Francisco, blowing what looked like an easy win, as Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens made it look like the Giants didn't put anyone on defense. Still, Collins had a strong game, throwing for 342 yards and 4 TD's. However, the future didn't look as bright. The team just never recovered from that loss and went 4-9 in the 13 games Collins played in in 2003, his last season as a Giant.

After the 2003 season the Giants fired Jim Fassell, hired Tom Coughlin, signed Kurt Warner and traded for 2004 #1 pick Eli Manning. Collins was released and went on to sign with the Oakland Raiders where he put up decent numbers in the two years he played there despite playing on one of the worst teams in the NFL. Then, in 2006, Collins signed with the Tennessee Titans and made another Pro Bowl, his second, in 2008. He became the emergency guy, someone Titans coach could look to to step in when Vince Young struggled or went off the deep end. Collins never complained, he just did his job.

In 2008, Collins became just the 15th quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 35,000 yards. In 1998 nobody would have guessed Collins' career would take such an upward surge. While Kerry Collins will never go into the annals as one of the best quarterbacks of all-time he will be remembered by me for what he did as a Giant. I'll also remember him for teaching me a lesson in that no matter how low you go you can always get back to the top, always reverse bad fortune with some hard work. I still own my #5 Kerry Collins Giants jersey and have no intention of giving it up. The NFL might not have lost a legend but it did lose a class act and a true role model. Good luck, Kerry and thanks for the memories!