Cecil Collins is on his third chance, and The Man with a Past, whom many consider the third best back behind Ricky Williams and Edgerrin James in tomorrow’s draft, swears on a stack of Baptist bibles that he will make good on it, that he has been scared straight by sharing a sink with threecellmates, that society shouldn’t be afraid of him.
For the past month, he has told his story to several NFL teams troubled by a great dilemma.
Cecil Collins had been Louisiana’s Mr. Football four years ago and went on to LSU a home-state hero. After sitting out his freshman season as a partial qualifier, he gained 583 yards in his first three games of 1997, including 232 on 27 carries against hated Auburn. “The Diesel” – his old nickname at Leesville High School, where he amassed 7,883 yards and 99 touchdowns – had been resurrected.
Then he broke his leg in game four and was lost for the year. Then in June ’98, with the anticipation of his return, he was lost forever. He had been arrested for allegedly breaking into a young woman’s apartment and fondling her. Two weeks later came another arrest on the same charge involving a different young woman. LSU kicked him off the team.
Free on bond, the 5-foot-10, 250-pound Collins surfaced two hours west of Baton Rouge at Division 1-AA McNeese State, where he would disappoint yet again. He played two games, then tested positive for marijuana. He was sent to East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for 27 days and then lived two months in a halfway house, where he spent his days in a bright orange jumpsuit planting shrubs on the side of highways.
Last Thursday, while facing five years in prison, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of simple battery and two felony counts of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, and was sentenced to four years probation and 300 hours of community service. Under the terms of his plea, he is allowed to leave Louisiana only for employment.
Employment is football.
“I told every team the truth of what happened,” Cecil Collins said from his agent Jimmy Sexton’s office in Memphis. “I looked them in the eye and told them everything. I made mistakes. I admit to that. It’s in the past. I can’t dwell in the past.
“I’ve got a third chance. I know it’s my last one.”
Collins, 22, sounds sincere, and for good reason. Some of the tears he held in at night while in jail are still backed up.
“It’s a place nobody wants to be,” he said. “Being there, not being able to go outside, being cooped in there with some bad dudes. It was scary. Every night you don’t know what can happen in there. I prayed every night. I prayed things would work out and I would get out of there healthy. The day I got out of there I vowed to change my life.”
He survived. There were no incidents. “Most of those guys kept up on sports,” he said. “They knew who I was.”
They knew who he was while working landscaping 7 to 5 daily on the side of the road. “A lot of people would honk their horns,” he said. “I remember planting a bush outside at Wendy’s and people stopped to talk to me. I felt embarrassed at times.
“But it was good for me. You know, I was immature. I had quick success at LSU. I wasn’t able to handle it. I feel like I’ve grown.”
This is the bet you make if you’re the Dolphins, Patriots, Raiders and Chiefs, all of whom need a running back and have shown interest in Collins. It seems he will go in the first round. One team will choose the Other Side in the great dilemma: Draft a talent with a past or pass, and risk losing a Randy Moss?
Moss has made those forget Lawrence Phillips and the other troubled souls who blew up on their teams – and only heightened Collins’ draft position.
“He opened up the doors a lot for me,” Collins said. “I look forward to meeting him. He’s had a big impact on guys with off-the- field problems.”
Randy Moss is not Jackie Robinson. He was a receiver with a past who happened to catch so well last year people now attempt to put angel’s wings on his purple helmet. His success represents the bigger dilemma in all of sports: If you’re good, does it matter if you’re good or evil?
The events surrounding Collins’ legal problems are almost chilling. According to the arrest warrant, Collins allegedly awoke an 18-year-old woman on the couch by touching her face and hair, and then is accused of reaching under the girl’s cover and rubbing her thigh. He allegedly fled when the woman screamed.
Six days later, he was accused of attacking a 17-year-old woman at the same apartment complex near LSU. He allegedly rubbed his crotch against hers before being scared away by a ringing telephone. Collins refused to discuss the accusations. “I’m a good person,” he said.
Collins interviews well. NFL representatives don’t know what to think. Some have made the trek to Leesville to speak with Collins’ former high school teachers and coaches.
Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens’ VP of player personnel, came away impressed after a sitdown with him. “He seems like a kid who’s looking for a second chance,” he said. “People have turned their life around before when given an opportunity.’
Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson said the biggest problem evaluating Collins is that you can’t on the field. He played only five-plus games in college. “He’s an interesting player,” Johnson said. “It’s risk versus reward. He has as much risk as any high profile guy that has come along in a long time. With Collins, you have to address a lot of issues. You have to be concerned with everything in this kid.”
“We may never get the full story on this kid,” said Saints director of college scouting Bruce Lemmerman. “He’s like putting together a 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with no face.”
Collins, who lives with his girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter, Azakeia, says he not worried about the trappings that lie ahead as an NFL player.
“Naah, man, I’ve seen fine women all my life,” he said. “I’m not worried about that stuff. I’ve got a family to worry about. My daughter has influenced me the most. I realized I was hurting her.
“I had to get everything straightened out. The time I was in jail I got closer to [God]. I learned this is what my life would be if I didn’t get straight.”