Call him survivor or old, but QB Collins still winning
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kerry Collins may not be the NFL's best quarterback. He has a checkered personal history and a losing record as a starter.
But here he is, gray stubble and all, a key reason the Tennessee Titans are the NFL's last unbeaten team with a franchise-best 10-0 mark.
The fifth pick overall in 1995, Collins took his first team to the NFC championship game in his second season, and led the New York Giants to the 2001 Super Bowl. But he also had problems with alcohol and the behavior that went with drinking.
Now the guy who once felt he had to be the life of the party is happy to rush home to his wife and 4-year-old daughter. A big night out these days? Playing cards with friends or sitting in a deer stand by himself.
"If you play 14 years in this business, part of your career is going to be about survival," Collins said.
"I think one thing that's kept me in it is I've been able to come back from situations. I've been able to come back from personal things, from good years, from down years. I mean, that's just part of being in this business for a long time."
Thus did a player once labeled a quitter for asking his coach to bench him keep these Titans from a potential meltdown in September. That's when Vince Young, the No. 3 pick overall in 2006, sprained his knee — and his ego — after being booed by hometown fans. Collins ran on the field and has made every play necessary since to keep Tennessee the NFL's lone remaining unbeaten team.
Now the guy who ranks behind only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in career yards passing among active quarterbacks is busy adding to his numbers. He ranks 14th all-time with 36,472 yards passing; he is 12th in career completions; and 10th in career attempts. With a 9-0 record as a starter, he has improved his overall record to 79-85.
He has been at his best the past two weeks when defenses dared the Titans to pass. Collins threw for 519 yards with five touchdowns and one interception against Chicago and Jacksonville for a combined passer rating of 111.4.
Derided as simply a "game manager" during the early part of his run, he threw TD passes when the Bears stacked eight and nine men to stop the Titans' strong running game. Then he did what the best QBs do, rallying Tennessee from a 14-3 halftime deficit in Jacksonville with three second-half touchdown passes.
"He's always done three things that always set good quarterbacks apart. He's taken ups and downs in stride; he's prepared thoroughly, and he's competed like the devil," said Indianapolis president Bill Polian, who made Collins the expansion Carolina Panthers' first draft pick when he came out of Penn State.
He set a string of records at Penn State and helped give Joe Paterno his fifth undefeated season in 1994, topped with a Rose Bowl victory.
Fran Ganter, offensive coordinator for that 1994 team and now Penn State's associate athletic director for football, remembers Collins as such a fierce competitor it seemed as if the quarterback "wanted to bite your throat" on the sideline. Now Ganter sees Collins at peace with life and under total control.
"He seems so calm and poised right now, so much so it's amazing, it's fun to watch him," Ganter said.
Titans center Kevin Mawae, in his 15th pro season, said Collins has figured out what it takes to stay in the NFL while learning from his mistakes both on and off the field.
"There's got to be some kind of mental toughness about you and to be able to handle it, and he's done that. It comes through maturity and the things you have to face early on in your career. ... He's one of those guys a lot of young players could stand to learn from," Mawae said.
Not bad for a guy who used to be the example of what not to do in the NFL.
