Today In Patriots History May 27: Make that a double Collins

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Tony Collins​

Happy 67th birthday to Tony Collins
Born May 27, 1959 in Sanford, Florida; hometown Penn Yan, New York
Patriots running back/kick returner, 1981-1987; uniform #33
Pats second round (47th overall) selection of the 1981 draft, from East Carolina
Pats résumé: seven seasons, 102 games (83 starts); 7,003 yards from scrimmage, 44 TD; 6 playoff games;
New England Patriots All-1980s Team

Tony Collins rushed for 4,647 yards with New England , which still ranks as third most in franchise history. By the end of the 1987 season his 32 rushing touchdowns was the third most (tied with Curtis Martin for sixth most now). He was also adept catching the ball out of the backfield, at one top holding the club record for receptions by a running backs with 261 (now 3rd), ranks fourth in receiving yards (2,356, behind only Kevin Faulk, James White and Larry Garron). At that time the 261 career receptions was the third most in team history overall regardless of position, and today still ranks as 14th most. Collins also had 12 receiving touchdowns, a franchise record for running backs that lasted for more than two decades. (White and Faulk are the only RBs with more.)


Collins also had 1,520 touches (third most), 7,003 yards from scrimmage (fifth) and 8,353 all-purpose yardage (sixth) with the Patriots, and his 44 touchdowns ranks seventh on the career leader board. Tony Collins was named to the 1983 and 1984 Pro Bowls, and is a member of the New England Patriots All-Decade Team for the 1980s.

Dec 13, 2012:

Former Pats player tells Foxboro kids about drug abuse

FOXBORO — Tony Collins rolled up more than 7,000 all-purpose yards as an elite running back for the New England Patriots during the 1980s.

www.thesunchronicle.com

In high school and college, he strove to spend more time in the weight room than anyone else, to be first on the field and last off it. Holder of multiple records at East Carolina University, he was drafted in the second round by the Patriots in 1981 and became an instant starter.​

But while success seemed to come easily to the young man from ECU, injuries began to take their toll. Collins began taking pain killers for his neck, but found they nauseated him. A friend recommended marijuana, which seemed to relieve his discomfort. But it wasn’t enough.​

“Then the marijuana turned into cocaine, and that took away everything I loved,” he said.​

The public learned of Collins’s drug abuse almost immediately after the team lost its first Super Bowl to the Chicago Bears in 1986, when the Boston Globe carried the news that six members of the AFC Champion Patriots team had tested positive for drugs.​

Collins was banned from the league for a year after testing positive a third time for marijuana and cocaine. He was later reinstated, but a move to the Dolphins didn’t work out because of Collins’s damaged knees.​

Collins said pride and his self-image as a football star probably interfered with him getting help in fighting drug use.​

“I thought, ‘hey, I’m Tony Collins. I can handle my problems. I’ve got this,’ ” he said. “Well, I didn’t have it. It had me.”​

The former star running back said he began to master his addiction and turn his life around seven years ago, when he met his current wife. He said she had a “different way of thinking about life” that made sense to him.​

Oct 29, 2015:

Collins speaks to Toll Gate students about making right choices

Former New England Patriots running back Tony Collins spoke to Toll Gate juniors and seniors on Tuesday morning about hard work, perseverance, sound choices and learning “to love to be

warwickonline.com

His work wasn’t done yet. He entered training camp third on the depth chart behind Vagas Ferguson and Horace Ivory, but he said, in his mind, he was always the No. 1 running back.​

In the second week of training camp, Ivory got injured. Collins continued to work harder, being the first out on the field and last off of it.​

“Felt bad for Horace, felt real good for Tony,” Collins said to laughs from the audience.​

Ferguson suffered an ankle injury himself two weeks later, earning Collins the top running back spot on the team. Collins would go on to play in all 16 games, tallying 873 rushing and 232 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.​

Collins had the best year of his career in 1983. He made the Pro Bowl after rushing for 1,049 yards and 10 touchdowns while picking up 257 yards through the air as well.​

Then, in 1984, Collins had to make a difficult choice. He had suffered cracked ribs early in the season, and either had to sit down like Ivory and Ferguson before him and have his job taken away, or go on painkillers. He chose the latter, opting to receive cortisone shots before and during games as well to numb the agony.​

“When the medicine wears off, wears down, I’m in so much pain that I can’t even go to sleep, that I cannot even breathe,” Collins said. “So I have to take all these painkillers just to go to sleep. And I’m taking painkillers all through practice and all through the year, and the painkillers were tearing up my stomach.”​

As he became addicted to painkillers, he also began smoking marijuana to relieve nausea. He ended up being randomly tested by the NFL, failing two drug tests and getting cut by New England after the second infraction in 1988.​

He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts the next day and promised himself that he would stay clean after receiving a second chance. If he failed another drug test, he would have been suspended an entire season, so he stayed away from marijuana. However, he chose to attend a party four weeks into training camp and, despite not actually smoking any marijuana, the secondhand smoke around him was enough to result in a third failed drug test.​

He played one more season in 1990 for the Miami Dolphins before retiring, he said, as a “failure.”​

Jan 29, 2013:

Super Bowl nightmare was only part of Tony Collins” life of drugs

NEW ORLEANS — Tony Collins could never forget how he got his job, which is a large part of the reason he lost it . . . and nearly his life along with it.When the former Patriots Pro Bowl running back arrived in New…

www.bostonherald.com

Feb 11, 2016:

Former Patriot’s star Tony Collins talks big dreams – and bad calls – with Everett students - Dorchester Reporter

Tony Collins sat in the principal’s office of the Edward Everett Elementary School on Pleasant Street last Thursday. His hands folded, a Pro Bowl ring prominent on his right pinky, the former Patriots running back listened quietly as the principal explained why she invited him to speak to her...

www.dotnews.com

Tony Collins (2011) - ECU Athletics Hall of Fame - East Carolina University Athletics

East Carolina University Athletics

ecupirates.com

Patriots.com Audio -- 48:31 Podcast

Pats from the Past, Episode 15: Tony Collins

Former Patriots running back Tony Collins joins the next Pats from the Past podcast presented by Who but WB Mason. Learn about the Patriots player who impressed him the most when he entered the NFL. What it means to still hold the 36-year-old rushing reco

www.patriots.com

Tony Collins Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Get Tony Collins Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Tony Collins Pro Football Record

The trusted source for pro football information about Tony Collins. Get statistics, transactions. biographical data and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

Tony Collins (American football) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jmt57]

Most of the other options at running back in Collins' career (Vagus Feguson early, Reggie 'Two Yards' Dupard late) made Tony Collins look like a Hall of Famer by comparison. The one time Collins had a good complimentary back - Craig James - the team made it to the super bowl.

After Collins left the Patriots he signed with Indianapolis.
He never played for the Colts though as that was the year he was suspended.

Tony only played in one game for Miami in 1990 before they released him.


Then Tony Collins, NFL star just a few years earlier, played in the Arena Football League - for three years!
He was a FB/WR/LB for the Orlando Predators (1991), Cincinnati Rockers (1992) and Miami Hooters (1993).

Tony Collins | ArenaFan.com

ArenaFan is the premier community site for fans of the Arena Football League. News, scores, standings, statistics, games and more. Anything you've ever wanted to know about the AFL.

www.arenafan.com

COLLINS GETS LAST LAUGH WITH RETURN TO FOOTBALL

Former NFL star Tony Collins had an instant and emphatic reaction when Orlando Predators coach Perry Moss called one day two months ago to ask if he had any interest in playing Arena League football: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. “I…

www.orlandosentinel.com

Former Patriot running back Tony Collins, whose...

Former Patriot running back Tony Collins, whose NFL career was shortened by drug use, drove his car into a lake in Orlando, Fla., in what police said was a suicide attempt.

www.latimes.com

EX-PATRIOT RB DRIVES CAR INTO LAKE

Former New England Patriots running back Tony Collins, whose NFL career was shortened by drug use, drove his car into a lake in what police said was a suicide attempt. Collins, 32, was treated at a hospital and released about an hour later, police said. The car hopped a curb at 4:45 a.m...

www.deseret.com

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Make that a double Collins
The player that resulted in
the Tom Brady draft pick​

Happy 56th birthday to Todd Collins
Born May 27, 1970 in New Market, Tennessee
Patriots linebacker, 1992-1998; uniform #54 ('92-'94); #59 ('96-'98)
Pats 3rd round (64th overall) selection of the 1992 draft, from Carson-Newman
Pats résumé: six seasons, 76 games (53 starts); 354 tackles, 2 picks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries


It is easy to understand why Todd Collins is the only person from New Market to make it to the NFL. The town in northeastern Tennessee, about 24 miles from Knoxville, had a population of 1,216 - though it has grown to all of 1,416 now. Collins had earned a scholarship to Georgia, but received a medical redshirt after suffering a broken foot during practice. He transferred to Tennessee - but separated his shoulder, resulting in another season lost due to injury. After one semester in Knoxville he transferred to Division II Carson-Newman (enrollment: 2,500) in Jefferson City, which borders on his hometown of New Market. While Collins was there the Eagles won the 1989 NAIA championship.


Todd Franklin Collins played in 76 games with 53 starts over six seasons in New England. He had 92 tackles in 1993 and 99 in 1997, before taking a leave of absence for the entire 1995 season at the age of 25. Collins played in two super bowls: for the Patriots in their loss to Green Bay, and after he signed as a free agent for St Louis in 1999, in their narrow win over Tennessee.


His departure from the Patriots was inadvertently Collins' greatest contribution to the franchise, as the number of free agent losses versus free agent signings resulted in the Pats receiving a compensatory draft pick: number 199 in the 2000 draft.


And just in case anybody was wondering, this Todd Collins is not related to RB Tony Collins, nor backup QB Todd Collins from Walpole.

Clinton resident has ties to both Super Bowl teams

CLINTON, Tenn. — Clinton resident Todd Collins will be watching Sunday's Super Bowl LIII with plenty of intensity, as will millions of football fans.

www.oakridger.com

“Parcells worked us hard in that first preseason,” Collins remembered. “He wanted players who were willing to make the sacrifices in working to get better and improve the team. He didn’t want prima donnas. I got my break when the guy playing ahead of me started mouthing off to Parcells one day at practice. Parcells called me to come in to replace him and that guy was gone soon.”​

The 1996 campaign found Parcells’ rebuilding program — with Collins playing a major role in the process — come to fruition when New England won the AFC East with a 10-6 mark before defeating Pittsburgh and Jacksonville to reach the Super Bowl at New Orleans against the Green Bay Packers.​

“The Packers were a very good team and they were fired up because they had not been to a Super Bowl in almost 30 years,” said Collins of the Patriots’ 35-21 loss.​

Collins said one of the strongest memories of that game was afterwards when Parcells made it obvious to his team that he was going to retire.​

“Parcells was not one to get emotional, but he had tears in his eyes and his voice was cracking,” Collins said. “We knew he was leaving.”​

One of Parcells’ chief aides that season was current Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, who had been fired the previous season as coach of the Cleveland Browns.​

“You won’t see Bill Belichick’s name listed with that ’96 team as an assistant coach, but he was working behind the scenes with everything going on,” Collins said. “He also established a strong relationship with (Patriots owner) Robert Kraft and that was a key to Kraft hiring Belichick a few years later as coach.​

Before there was Nate McBride, there was Todd Collins

Before there was Nate McBride, there was Todd Collins

247sports.com

He was a freak of an athlete, but he also was a very early adopter of plyometrics, etc.​

Think Nate might be faster, but keep in mind this was the 80's & Todd was basically training himself w/VHS tapes.​

1998 Patriots Media Guide -- page 115
Outtakes
★ Todd was named Tennessee's "Mr. Football" as a prep AII-American in 1987, the same title won by his brother, Brent, in 1985.
★ That year, he was rated the top prep prospect in the country and earned National Defensive Player of the Year honors from USA Today.
★ Todd and his wile, Jill , were married last May in the British Virgin Islands

Career Transactions
Todd Collins was drafted by the Patriots after his junior year with their first of two selections in the third round of the 1992 NFL draft (64th player selected) . . . Signed by the Patriots (7/23/92) . . . Placed on injured reserve with a neck injury (1 0/1 6/92-1 1/1 3/92) . . . Placed on injured reserve with a knee injury (11/15/94 - for the remainder of the season) . . . Became a restricted free agent (2/1 5/95) and re-signed with the Patriots (4/20/95) . . . Did not report to training camp and was placed on a reserved-did not report list . . . Missed the entire 1995 season, but filed for reinstatement following the year . . . Returned for the 1996 season . . . Became an unrestricted free
agent after the 1996 season and re-signed with the Patriots ( 4/4/97)

Career Highlights (GP/GS: 64/43; 5/5)
• Started 17 games for the Patriots in 1 997, including both playoff games. His previous single season high was 12 starts in 1993.
• Recorded a career-high 99 tackles (64 solos) , including 1½ sacks.
• Intercepted a Dan Marino pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown in the Patriots' wild-card game victory over the Dolphins (12/28/97).
• Began his career lined up inside in the Patriots' 3-4 defensive alignment along with former Patriot Vincent Brown. Moved to outside linebacker upon his return in 1996.
• He emerged as a starter in 1993 and finished the season with 92 tackles, including a sack and an interception.
• Started the first seven games of the 1994 season prior to suffering a season-ending knee injury. Rehabilitated the injury in New England during the offseason, but elected to sit out 1995 season. Returned to the Patriots in 1996.

College:
As a senior, he recorded 119 tackles (66 solos), six sacks and 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage . . . Returned two interceptions for touchdowns and was credited with 16 quarterback pressures . . . Chosen Small College Underclassman of the Year in 1990 despite missing two games with a knee injury . . . Finished season with 65 tackles (19 solos), a fumble recovery and a pass deflection . . . Played in only five games after suffering a foot injury in the second game of the season as a sophomore . . . ln 1989, he notched 12 tackles (five solos), two sacks and a pass deflection ... Enrolled at Georgia in 1988 but received a medical redshirt after breaking foot in fall drills . . . Transferred to Tennessee but suffered a separated shoulder . . . Left the Volunteers that fall and enrolled at Carson-Newman.

Personal:
Todd Franklin Collins was born on May 27, 1970 in New Market, Tenn. . . . He was one of the most decorated athletes in the history of Jefferson County High in New Market, Tenn. . . . Earned USA Today, SuperPrep and Parade Magazine first-team All-American acclaim as a senior . . . Majored in psychology at Carson-Newman . . . Todd and his wife, Jill, were married in May of 1998.

Todd Collins Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Get Todd Collins Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Todd Collins Pro Football Record

The trusted source for pro football information about Todd Collins. Get statistics, transactions. biographical data and more at Pro Football Archives.

profootballarchives.com

Todd Collins (linebacker) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Memorial Day Tragedy:
RIP Marquise Hill​

On the evening of May 27, 2007, Marquise Hill and his friend, Ashley Blazio, fell off a jet ski in Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans. Neither of them wore personal flotation or tracking devices. Hill ended up saving her life, keeping her calm until she could grab onto a buoy. Blazio was rescued and sent to Tulane Medical Center. Coast Guard units searched the area. Hill's body was found by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries the following day, around 2:20 PM CDT on May 28.


The 24-year old defensive end was a second round pick by the Patriots of the 2004 draft, from Louisiana State University.

Death of Patriots' Hill is ruled accidental drowning

The death of New England Patriots defensive end Marquise Hill, who fell off a personal watercraft Sunday in Lake Pontchartrain, was ruled an accidental drowning Tuesday.

www.espn.com

Hill spent much of his free time and his NFL paycheck helping loved ones rebuild in the hurricane-damaged city where he grew up.​

Aiding others came naturally to him, and distraught relatives on Monday said Hill died a hero after the former LSU star helped save the life of a former high school classmate who could not swim.​

While the woman survived by grabbing a piling and holding onto it until she was rescued, the 24-year-old Hill, who friends described as a good swimmer, drifted away and disappeared until searchers pulled his body from the water on Monday afternoon, about 17 hours after the accident.​

"He was a hero until the end," his cousin, Elaine Hill Blackshire of Alabama, told the Boston Herald for Tuesday's editions. "He made sure he got her to safety. I'm just so sad that he lost his life, but he wouldn't have had it any other way. If he had saved himself, and knowing she couldn't swim, he couldn't have lived with himself.​

"He thought of others first. He was just that kind of person."​

"I lost a brother, man," said Patriots defensive lineman Jarvis Green, a fellow Louisiana native and former LSU player. "He was a funny guy. ... He'd just sit there and talk to you, say some funny things off his head that'd make you laugh. He was good to be around."​

Hill's agent, Albert Elias, said he spoke with Hill's friend and said she either couldn't swim or was having difficulty doing so.​

"Marquise knew this, and being a strong swimmer, he was instructing her as he drifted away in a different direction to stay calm and don't fight the water. He found a buoy or piling behind her and told her to let the current take her to that. She listened to him and it pretty much saved her life," Elias said.​

The woman was sent to Tulane Medical Center, where she told authorities that Hill had tried to keep her calm as the two were drifting away from each other.​

"It's so important to have a life jacket and a signaling device," Atkeson said. "One keeps you afloat and the other helps us find you."​

Elias said the player spent much of his time since Hurricane Katrina helping rebuild the homes of family members including his mother and the mother of his son.​

The Patriots wore number 91 on their helmet in memory of Hill for the full 2007 season.