After long layoff, Collins ready for CFL debut

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/07/2015 (4067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TWO years ago, Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive tackle Nate Collins was having a dream game as a member of the Chicago Bears.

He’d sacked New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl winning quarterback Drew Brees during the first half, and contributed three other tackles on the day. The game was only in the third quarter, and there was time for more.

But a routine snap on offence would morph into the better part of two years stuck on the sidelines.

“I remember it just like it was yesterday,” said Collins, who will see time in Bryant Turner’s vacated spot on the defensive line Saturday. “I didn’t know if I’d ever play again.”

Collins suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the third quarter of that early October loss to the Saints and was relegated to months of rehab and worry.

Ten months later, he was back in Bears’ training camp. But questions about his knee and the emergence of those who stepped up in his place didn’t bode well for his chances. Without a tackle through Week 3 of pre-season, Collins was cut.

“I’m a guy who was sitting at home all last year.” Collins said. “It was a long season after being cut. It made me realize a few things. “It made me appreciate how much I love football. It made me realize how scared I am of idle time. It was like I’d work out a couple times a day, rehabbing, and then I’d have the rest of the day. Normally, I’d have practice or meetings, that sort of thing.

“It made me realize how big football had become a part of my life. To the point where I just wanted to be busy.

“Growing up, when you realize when you want to take football seriously, football doesn’t have an end, where you have a few months off. If you want to strive to be great, you want to be working out, working toward your craft.”

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Perhaps a blessing in disguise, Collins’ rehabilitation time allowed for his rejuvenation. He said he feels his knee is stronger than ever now.

Collins missed most of Winnipeg’s training camp with an undisclosed lower body injury. Bumps and bruises, Collins said. Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said the injury wasn’t to the surgically repaired left knee.

Collins isn’t thinking about any of that, however. He’s just jacked to play.

“I’m 27, my torn ACL was my first real injury, my first surgery, so I can say, looking back, I was blessed to even play the game for so long,” he said. “You hear about guys having multiple injuries, here and there, so I’m just excited I’m back.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.