Jerome Vincent Collins (born August 18, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

in the fifth round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also he ...

. He played college football at Notre Dame.

Early years

Jerome attended

Wheaton Warrenville South High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School (WWSHS), locally referred to as "South", is a public four-year high school in Wheaton, Illinois. It is one of two high schools that are part of Community Unit School District 200, the other being Wheaton Nort ...

from 1996 to 2000. He was on the undefeated 1998 Illinois ( IHSA) football championship team for division 6-A, which at the time was the most populated division of Illinois high schools. Jerome played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

with former

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

quarterback Jon Beutjer and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

wide receiver Jon Schweighardt. Collins received special mention on Champaign News-Gazette All-state team. He was a three-year starter who helped his team to state titles as a sophomore and junior followed by an 8-3 mark in 1999. He caught 35 passes for 450 yards and five touchdowns as a senior in 1999 and made 31 catches for 702 yards and eight touchdowns as junior. Collins averaged 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds as a senior in basketball and earned All-league honors and ran the second leg on the 1999 state championship 4x100 relay.

College career

Collins moved to tight end for his final season at Notre Dame. He appeared in twelve games, but did not start any games while catching six passes for 67 yards (11.2 avg). He was involved in two blocked punts and totaled 4 tackles (3 solos) on special teams action. Collins played in 10 games at defensive end and linebacker for the Irish in 2003 and also contributed on special teams. He finished the season with nine tackles (seven solos) and one tackle for a loss. In 2002, he played in 11 games as a reserve at outside linebacker. As a sophomore in 2001 Collins played in three games as a reserve at outside linebacker and made one tackle. In 2000, he did not see action after changing positions from wide receiver to outside linebacker during the 2000 season.

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Collins was the 144th pick of the

by the

from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. He was on the Rams practice squad and also the 53-man roster (playing three games) before being released.

Dallas Cowboys

After he was released from the Rams the Cowboys signed Collins to be on their practice squad.

Indianapolis Colts

He signed with the Colts on October 4, 2006. He was placed on injured reserve after injuring his Achilles tendon during practice in December 2006. On February 23, 2007, the Colts released Collins.

New York Giants

He was signed to the New York Giants practice squad prior to the week 1 game against the Cowboys and was signed to the active roster after week 15. He has been on back to back Super Bowl winning rosters with the Colts and Giants, although he had not appeared in a game for either team. He was released by the Giants on August 30, 2008 during final cuts.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bioNew York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jerome 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Columbus, Georgia African-American players of American football American football tight ends Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players St. Louis Rams players Dallas Cowboys players Indianapolis Colts players New York Giants players Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people