Ricky Collins Jr. (born March 5, 1992) is a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

wide receiver in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) who is currently a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

, and

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...

. He was a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), as well as the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

, and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the CFL.

High school career

Collins played high school football at

John Tyler High School Tyler High School, formerly known as John Tyler High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade. In 2020, the Tyler I. S. D. school ...

, in his hometown,

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. During his senior season, he caught 44 passes for 1,053 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also ran the sprint relays in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

for his high school.

College career

Collins begin his college career in 2010 at

Kilgore Junior College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...

; he had 34 receptions for 654 yards and 3 touchdowns during his freshman season. During his sophomore season in 2011, he continued at Kilgore and caught 50 passes for 571 yards with 6 touchdowns. After playing at Kilgore, Collins transferred to

for the 2012 season. He started in 2 out of the first 5 games and hauled in 7 passes for 98 yards, before walking away from football to care for his ill father. After the 2012 season, Collins transferred to

but had to sit out a year as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

and pay his own way through school due to the fact that Midwestern State had not released him to be transferred. After sitting out for the 2013 season, Collins was eligible to play in 2014 and caught 71 passes for 1,187 yards and 14 touchdowns, he also threw a 44-yard touchdown pass on a trick play in a game against

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...

. He currently holds the A&M–Commerce record for touchdown receptions in a season, which was previously held by his teammate

Vernon Johnson Vernon E. Johnson (August 23, 1920 – April 30, 1999) was an Episcopal priest and recovering alcoholic who devoted his life to a claimed method of alcohol intervention. Johnson's main achievements lie in the field of treatment of chemical depend ...

. He helped lead a conference championship-winning A&M–Commerce team that led the nation in both average points per game (54.1) and average yards per game (535.4). Collins also took part in the team's season-opening, record-breaking performance against East Texas Baptist, during which the offense produced 13 touchdowns, 98 points, and 986 total yards of offense. After the season, he was awarded

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

first team honors. After the 2014 season Collins was selected to compete in the

College Gridiron Showcase The College Gridiron Showcase (CGS) is an independently operated annual post-season college football event hosted each January in Fort Worth, Texas. The event consists of NFL draft prospects who have completed their eligibility in NCAA Division I ...

. He was projected to be drafted in the 6th or 7th round of the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. However, one NFL scout said of Collins: "Good size and has talent but was in a very simple offense and I think he needs to come in as a free agent and prove he can take on a pro offense."

NCAA stats

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

After his 2014 season, Collins signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. He sustained an injury during minicamp and was placed on the

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list entering training camp before the preseason. Collins was cut by the Packers with an injury settlement just before the start of the 2015 preseason.

Brooklyn Bolts

Collins joined the

Brooklyn Bolts The Brooklyn Bolts were a professional American football team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. They were a charter member of the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which was trying to become the developmental league for the Natio ...

of the

Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The lea ...

for the remainder of 2015.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On January 14, 2016, Collins was signed by the

of the

. He was released by the team on May 3, 2016.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Collins signed with the

on May 29, 2016. Collins got off to a great start in the 2016 season with his best performance coming in a Week 3 game against the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, where Collins caught 6 passes for 115 yards and 1 touchdown. Collins was placed on the six-game injured reserve list on September 17, 2016. Collins returned from injury in Week 17 and had a big performance, catching 7 passes for 113 yards and 1 touchdown against the

. Collins finished his first season with 48 receptions for 720 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 8 kick returns for 151 yards, 4 punt returns for 41 yards, and 1 missed field goal returned for 38 yards, giving him a total of 950 all-purpose yards for the season. He was second on the team in receiving yards and tied for second on the team in receiving touchdowns despite the fact that he missed 4 games. Collins began the 2017 season on the six-game injured reserve list with a shoulder injury that he had sustained during the Week 1 match-up against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

. Collins would only play in only one game for the Riders in 2017.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On August 21, 2017, Collins was traded to the

along with a seventh round pick in the

2018 CFL draft The 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018, at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS... Sixty-nine players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in ...

, in exchange for defensive end Mike McAdoo and a sixth round pick in the 2018 draft. He was cut from team on September 26, 2017, having never made an appearance.

BC Lions

About a week after free agency began Collins signed with the

on February 22, 2018. On July 20 in a game against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

Collins caught 6 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown including a clutch 39 yard reception in the 2nd quarter to put the Lions into scoring position. However the Lions still fell short and lost the game 29–25. He had another big performance in a rematch against the Redblacks, Collins finished the game with 10 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown as the Lions defeated the Redblacks 26–14. The Lions made the playoffs and lost 48–8 against the

, Collins led the team in receiving in this playoff game with 5 receptions for 95 yards. Collins finished the season with 60 receptions for 611 yards, 2 receiving touchdowns, 10 rushing yards, along with 46 yards as a returner on special teams.

Edmonton Eskimos

In February 2019, Collins was signed to a three-year contract during the first day of free agency. Collins provided an immediate impact for Edmonton, with a 175-yard performance in week 1. Collins amassed 3 games where he surpassed 100 yards receiving, and was a consistent contributor, passing the 1,000 yard receiving mark for the first time in his career to help Edmonton return to the playoffs. After the CFL canceled the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Collins chose to opt-out of his contract with the Eskimos on August 26, 2020. He opted back into his contract with the Eskimos on October 6, 2020. He was released on January 31, 2021, and announced his retirement from football on February 26, 2021.

Toronto Argonauts

On June 28, 2021, Collins signed with the

of the

. Collins finished the season with 55 receptions for 642 yards and helped lead the Argonauts to the playoffs.

Statistics

Playoff statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Ricky 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Tyler, Texas Players of Canadian football from Texas American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football players Green Bay Packers players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Kilgore Rangers football players Midwestern State Mustangs football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players BC Lions players Edmonton Elks players Toronto Argonauts players