"At 38, with 16 NFL seasons behind him, former Giants quarterback Kerry Collins announced his retirement Thursday, ending his five-team career with the Tennessee Titans .

Collins, who starred at Penn State and was selected with the fifth pick of the 1995 draft by the Carolina Panthers , threw for 40,441 yards and 206 touchdowns in 195 games. He led the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV by destroying the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC title game, throwing for 381 yards and five touchdowns and tying a postseason record for touchdown passes set by Sid Luckman in 1943. The Giants would lose to the Ravens , 34-7, in Tampa .

"I feel especially fortunate to have played under some of the true patriarchs of the modern game: Joe Paterno , the late Wellington Mara , Al Davis and Bud Adams ," Collins said in a statement.

Not all went smoothly for Collins during his career. Alcoholism consumed him while with Carolina, and he received treatment before resurrecting his career with the Giants. While with Carolina, he also overcame an incident in which he referred to two teammates by racial slurs. He insisted afterward that he was naïve to believe those epithets were socially acceptable.

"I've been labeled a drunk, a racist and a quitter," Collins liked to say. "Other than that, I'm fine.""