Gary Collins

Collins at Maryland in 1961
No. 86
Positions	Wide receiver Punter
Personal information
Born	(1940-08-20)August 20, 1940 (age 85) Williamstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Williamstown (Williamstown, Pennsylvania)
College	Maryland
NFL draft	1962: 1st round, 4th overall pick
AFL draft	1962: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Career history
Playing
Cleveland Browns (1962–1971) Florida Blazers (1974)
Coaching
Florida Blazers (1974) Receivers coach
Awards and highlights
NFL champion (1964) Championship Game MVP (1964) 3×All-Pro (1965,1966,1969) 3×Pro Bowl (1965,1966,1969) NFL receiving touchdowns co-leader (1963) NFL 1960s All-Decade Team Cleveland Browns Legends ConsensusAll-American (1961) 2× First-team All-ACC (1960,1961) Second-team All-ACC (1959)
Career NFL statistics
Receptions 331 Receiving yards 5,299 Receivingtouchdowns 70 Punts 336 Punt yards 13,764 Punting average 41.0 Stats atPro Football Reference

Gary James Collins (born August 20, 1940) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver andpunter for theCleveland Browns of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1962 to 1971. He playedcollege football for theMaryland Terrapins.

Born inWilliamstown, Pennsylvania, Collins attended Williamstown High School and was recruited by theUniversity of Maryland, College Park. During his three seasons (1959–61) with theTerrapins, he established a number of school records, and left his mark on theAtlantic Coast Conference record book as well. In 1961, he finished eighth in theHeisman Trophy balloting.^[1]

The Browns chose Collins with the fourthdraft pick in the1962 NFL draft and immediately made him the starting punter, while also using him as a reserve for veteran receiverRay Renfro. In 1963, he moved into the starting lineup and led the team with 43 receptions and teamed with quarterbackFrank Ryan to pace the league with 13touchdowns catches. The latter mark broke a team record of nine, established byDante Lavelli in 1947.

The following year, rookiePaul Warfield became Ryan's top receiver, but Collins developed a knack for coming through in the clutch. The first instance came in the season's second game, when he caught a fourth-down pass from Ryan to set up a go-ahead touchdown against theSt. Louis Cardinals. Saving the best for last, Collins sparkled in the 1964NFL championship game, when he was on the receiving end of three touchdown passes from Ryan and won the game'sMost Valuable Player award in the 27–0 upset over theBaltimore Colts.

Building on the spectacular ending to that season, Collins followed with two more excellent campaigns in which he caught more than 50 passes and again finished in double digits in touchdown receptions. In 1965, he led the Browns with 50 receptions for 884 yards, and his average of 46.7 yards per punt topped theNFL. His 56 catches for 946 yards again led the team in 1966.^[2]

In 1967, Collins saw his numbers for both receiving and punting drop, but he made his second straightPro Bowl appearance. The following year, Collins gave up his punting duties, but suffered a severe shoulder injury in the October 5 game against thePittsburgh Steelers. The injury kept him out of action until the final week of the regular season and limited him to just nine receptions. While he made the most of those catches by averaging over 25 yards per grab, Collins caught no touchdown passes for the only time in his career.

Collins bounced back in 1969 with 54 catches and 11 touchdown receptions and helped the Browns reach the NFL Championship game for the fourth time in six seasons. In 1970, the punishing life of an NFL receiver began to catch up with him as he suffered from a number of rib injuries that limited him to 26 catches. In the team's December 12 game against theDallas Cowboys, played in a driving rainstorm which turned theCleveland Stadium surface into mud, a costly fumble by Collins after being hit in the ribs stopped a key drive and played a role in the team's 6–2 loss, a defeat that helped keep the team out of the postseason.

The ascension of new head coachNick Skorich in 1971 would eventually develop into a personality conflict between Collins and the new mentor. After just 15 receptions that year, Collins announced during the offseason that he would retire unless he was traded to either theWashington Redskins orNew York Jets.^[2][3]

When neither team was able to work out a deal, Collins retired and took an assistant coaching position withLebanon Valley College inAnnville, Pennsylvania. He signed as a player-coach with the WFL's Florida Blazers in 1974, but sustained a broken collarbone in preseason and saw only limited action later in the season, recording 3 catches. After then leaving football altogether, he worked as aninsurance agent inHershey, Pennsylvania, and did some broadcasting. Married in 1980, Collins has two children and four grandchildren.^[4]

Collins retired with 339 receptions for 5,299 yards and 70 touchdowns. Collins was the sixth receiver to have 70 touchdowns in NFL history, behindDon Hutson,Don Maynard,Tommy McDonald,Lance Alworth, andArt Powell. Four of those five above Collins are in thePro Football Hall of Fame.^[5] He did so while being 39th all-time in receiving yards and 31st in receptions.^[6][7] He remains the Browns' leader in career receiving touchdowns, and his reception total ranks second behind that ofOzzie Newsome. As a punter, he averaged 41.0 yards per attempt. He had 336 punts, 25th best upon retirement.^[8]

Those numbers have led some of Collins' supporters to launch a quiet campaign for election to thePro Football Hall of Fame, citing the similarities between Collins' career numbers and those ofPittsburgh Steelers wideoutLynn Swann, as each had over 330 receptions with a yards per reception average of just over 16.0 yards.^[9][10]

Gary Collins is a member ofThe Pigskin Club Of Washington, D.C. National Collegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.

In 2016, theProfessional Football Researchers Association named Collins to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016.^[11]

• Grossi, Tony (2004).Tales from the Browns Sideline. (Champaign, Ill.): Sports Publishing LLC.ISBN 1-58261-713-9
• Stewart, Todd, ed. (2004)Cleveland Browns 2004 Media Guide. New York: National Communications Group.
• Carroll, Bob, et al. (1999)Total Football II. New York: HarperCollins.ISBN 0-06-270174-6.

Media related toGary Collins (American football) at Wikimedia Commons

• 1940 births
• Living people
• All-American college football players
• American football wide receivers
• American football punters
• Florida Blazers players
• Maryland Terrapins football players
• Cleveland Browns players
• Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players
• Players of American football from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

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