Though Brett Favre is not playing in the NFL this year, there is a competitive side of him that the average football fan has grown to understand, if not love. That competitiveness is celebrating that Peyton Manning will not be starting this weekend, and Favre’s record 321 straight games started will not be touched for another decade, if ever.
But there is another grey-bearded quarterback who has to be even more excited. His name is Kerry Collins.
Collins will be the first starting quarterback for the Colts not named Manning since the Jim Harbaugh era. After starring for Joe Paterno at Penn State, Collins was selected by the Carolina Panthers fifth overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. Kerry made the Pro Bowl in 1996 and in 2008 and has NFC Championship game and Super Bowl experience.
Collins led the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV against the Baltimore Ravens, which had one of the brilliantly brutal defenses since the Steelers’ infamous Steel Curtain. Four years later, Collins was released by the Giants to make room for rookie quarterback Eli Manning.
Collins then had a run-in with the Oakland Raiders and eventually ended up in Tennessee, where he led the Titans to an NFL-best 13-3 record in 2008.
So where had Collins landed before signing with the Colts? His rocking chair. If it wasn’t for Peyton Manning’s injury, he would be just another washed up quarterback sitting at home on Sundays and thinking about the good ol’ days. Now he has one last chance to prove his naysayers wrong. Plus, he has a receiving core that is still packed with playmakers such as Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Pierre Garcon, to name a few.
The worst thing that could happen is the Colts lose every game that Collins starts, which has happened so far. The good news is Indianapolis has 15 more games to prove he was a worthy addition to the squad. But even if he doesn’t win a game, is that really all that bad? He was going to be sitting on the couch watching this season pass by in HD, and now he has taken over the team of the guy’s brother that took over his team. How ‘bout them apples?
And there were other quarterbacks the Colts could have courted, including that other old guy. Being called out of retirement and getting the chance to close the final chapter of his NFL career is better than any record he could post this season.
Here’s to you, Kerry Collins. Throwing to Reggie Wayne is still better than advertising Rogaine.
