Cecil Collins (American football)

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Cecil Collins
No. 34
Position: Running back
Personal information
Born: (1976-11-19) November 19, 1976 (age 47)
Fort Knox, Kentucky
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school: Leesville (LA)
College: McNeese State
NFL draft: 1999  / Round: 5 / Pick: 134
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Rushing att–yards:131–414
Receptions-yards:6–32
Touchdowns:2

Cecil J. P.Collins (born November 19, 1976) is a former American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

Early years

Collins attended Leesville High School in Leesville in Vernon Parish in western Louisiana. There, he amassed 99 touchdowns and 7,833 yards over his high school football career including 3,079 yards during his senior season. Leesville was the 4A state runner-up that year and Cecil was selected as Louisiana's very first "Mr. Football".

Collin's struggles began during his senior season at Leesville when the NCAA Clearinghouse declared that he would be required to retake his ACT Test. [1] Cecil had taken the test during his Junior year and had not scored well enough to qualify for Division I schools. At the beginning of his Senior season he retook the exam and improved five points giving him an acceptable score. After reviewing his case however, the NCAA Clearinghouse notified his family that this improvement was unusual and that it would be necessary for him to retest. On his third attempt, Collins failed to make the required score by one point and was forced to sit out his first year at LSU. [1]

College career

After sitting out his freshman year he began his football career at LSU in less than grand fashion, sitting out the first game of the season serving a suspension for breaking team rules. [1] After this ignoble beginning, however, Collins compiled 596 yards in his first four games before breaking his leg in the game against Vanderbilt.

He was kicked off of the LSU squad before the start of his second season after having been twice arrested for illegally entering dwellings. [1] [2] He claimed he was sleepwalking and had no recollection of entering the girls' rooms. [1] He received probation as his sentence and made a second attempt at college football at Division I-AA (FCS) McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana but violated his probation when he failed a drug screen and was kicked off of the McNeese squad as well. [1]

NFL career

Collins was selected as the first pick in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Dolphins out of McNeese State University by then coach-general manager Jimmy Johnson. [3] Signing a three-year contract, [4] His nickname with the Dolphins was 'Cecil the Diesel'. He appeared in eight games in the 1999 season, accumulating 414 yards and two touchdowns. Collins was suspended indefinitely after his burglary arrest, then released shortly afterward. [5]

Career statistics

YearTeamGamesRushingReceivingFumbles
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
1999 MIA 861314143.22526325.312021
Total861314143.22526325.312021

Burglary case

On December 16, 1999, Collins committed burglary in Palm Trace Landings, an apartment complex in Davie, Florida. [6] [7] He admitted that he broke into the home of a married woman that he knew from the gym, but said he only wanted to watch her sleep. [8] After conviction on the charge, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on March 27, 2001, and released on May 1, 2013. [1] [9]

Personal

Collins has three children. [10] During his prison sentence, Collins said he found God and married a woman he met while she was visiting another inmate. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Desk, Scott Branson National. "Ex-LSU star Cecil Collins is close to freedom after more than 13 years in jail". NOLA.com.
  2. ↑ Bradley, John Ed. "Heavy Freight Cecil Collins comes with lots of baggage and little college experience but enough talent to be one of the first running backs taken in the NFL draft". Vault.
  3. ↑ "1999 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  4. ↑ "Dolphins Show J.J. The Money". cbsnews.com.
  5. ↑ Freeman, Mike (9 January 2000). "Stains From the Police Blotter Leave N.F.L. Embarrassed". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "Police charge Collins with burglary". UPI.
  7. ↑ Benjamin, Jody A. "Neighbor Says Collins Often Harassed Her". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  8. ↑ "Appeals court throws out Collins' 15-year sentence". a.espncdn.com.
  9. ↑ "Cecil "The Diesel" Collins out of prison after more than 13 years". wafb.com.
  10. ↑ "SportingNews.com - NFL : Behind bars, Cecil the Diesel remains upbeat". 11 March 2007. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
  11. ↑ "After 13 years in prison, ex-Dolphin Cecil Collins has no regrets". 11 November 2012.
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