"Seeing that this was a gym credit during summer session, I wasn't worried when my tennis instructor explained that I would play a singles match against the top seed from another class for my final exam.

At least, not until I met my opponent.

He stood 6-foot-5, weighed 235 pounds and bore a striking resemblance to Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins. Paying that little mind, I took my starting position at the baseline, awaiting his serve. He tossed the ball high, launching a rocket that ricocheted off my racket and then my chin.

That's when I realized it was Kerry Collins.

And I wasn't going to ace this test.

This was 1993, a year before I would cover Collins and the Nittany Lions, as they shattered school records in an undefeated season that culminated with Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships, almost two years before he was chosen fifth overall in the NFL Draft by the expansion Carolina Panthers.

Back then, if you would have predicted Collins would end his NFL career as the 11th all-time passer, sandwiched between Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas with 40,441 yards, it wouldn't have surprised me at all.

Not after watching Collins direct the 96-yard scoring drive at Illinois in November 1994 that saved Penn State's perfect season. He completed 13 of 15 passes in the fourth quarter and all seven attempts on the game-winning drive, as the Lions overcame a 21-point deficit for a 35-31 victory. He won the Davey O'Brien Award as college football's best quarterback, the Maxwell Award as its best player and should have won the Heisman Trophy.

What's more impressive is how Collins persevered to turn his life around."