GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When you live on the Internet and social media most of the time for your job, the small dusty room cluttered with old files is sometimes forgotten.
It sits quietly off a concourse at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Inside, cooled by a cranky old air conditioner mounted on the wall, there are thousands of files filled with newspaper clippings, photos and various reminders of the past.
It had been awhile since I visited the room until Tuesday. I went in search of information on former Gators offensive lineman Mo Collins, who passed away Sunday morning way too soon. Collins was 38 and in his first season as head coach at West Charlotte (N.C.) High, his alma mater.
Collins is believed to be the first player on the first Florida football team (1996) to win a national championship to die. While no official cause of death has been released, according to the Charlotte Observer, Collins had been receiving dialysis treatments for kidney failure and missed his team's game on Friday.
Former UF offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens, now in his third season as head coach at Walton High in DeFuniak Springs, Fla., recalled Collins on Tuesday as the kind of player and person he enjoyed to be around. Stephens was his position coach during Collins' three seasons (1995-97) at UF.
After a long college coaching career, Stephens returned to the prep ranks in 2012 to take on more of a mentor role, something he considers a calling at this stage in his life. Collins did the same earlier this year.
“He was a good person, fun to be around,'' Stephens said. “He was a really good player, helped us win a lot of games. It's always sad when someone passes away that young. It was rewarding to see he went back to his hometown and tried to make a difference in the community, not just with money, but as a coach and mentor.”
A first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 1998, Collins played six seasons in the NFL and was a starter in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 when the Raiders lost to Tampa Bay.
The Bucs were coached by Jon Gruden, who in his first season as Oakland's coach in 1998, used a first-round pick to select Collins.
“This is a rare athlete,'' Gruden said then. “He is 337 pounds and he moves his feet with ease.”
Collins considered his final game at The Swamp one of his finest. It's certainly one of UF's most memorable wins over FSU, a 32-29 victory on Nov. 22, 1997. The Gators were ranked 10th and FSU No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
The 6-foot-5 Collins was matched against FSU defensive end Andre Wadsworth, the third overall selection in the '98 draft.
Collins neutralized Wadsworth to boost his draft stock.
“That was my marquee matchup,'' Collins said on draft day. “I believe I dominated that game. People try to mock me about playing down to the competition. Well, that's a good thing I guess. I get Andre Wadsworth every Sunday in the NFL.”
Back to that small room at The Swamp. Here are some facts discovered in Big Mo's file that some will remember, others have never known.
It's our way of saying goodbye to a player longtime UF beat writer David Jones said once picked him up during an interview and playfully tossed him over his shoulder like a rag doll:
--Born Damon Jamal Collins on Sept. 22, 1976
--His father, Carl Collins, had a short stint as a defensive lineman with Kansas City in the mid-1970s.
--Collins made his Gators debut 20 years ago this fall, playing 25 snaps in Florida's 70-21 win over New Mexico State on Sept. 3, 1994. He suffered a foot injury in a 31-0 win at Tennessee two weeks later and was granted a medical redshirt.
--In a document titled “Florida Football Player Publicity Questionnaire,” Collins listed “electronics, fishing, cutting hair, golf” as primary hobbies. Collins considered Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia before signing with Florida. He said he cancelled a visit to UCLA due to an earthquake. Collins' favorite food was steak, favorite actor Denzel Washington, and favorite movie “Malcolm X.”
--Collins' UF career was derailed temporarily when it was revealed he accepted $500 from a runner for a sports agent to fly home to North Carolina from the 1995 Fiesta Bowl. Collins cooperated with the investigation and missed six games during the 1996 season.
--Collins was never one to shy away from a good quote. Prior to the Tennessee game in 1997, Collins was quoted: “As a person and a player, I think Peyton Manning is highly overrated. Doug Johnson is just as good a quarterback … There is no 'I' in team. They [media] put all the focus on Manning.” It was Collins' way of saying he didn't consider Manning as good as former UF quarterback Danny Wuerffel.
--Collins was featured in a 1995 story in The Chronicle of Higher Education about the end of athletic dorms.
--Collins announced that he was turning pro after his junior season in an unconventional fashion: on an Ocala radio show hosted by former UF teammate James Bates.
--When Collins announced his decision to leave school early, Gators coach Steve Spurrier said publicly he didn't think Collins should leave. Meanwhile, NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper didn't have Collins in his top 60 prospects. Didn't matter. Oakland took Collins with the 23rd overall pick.
You can sign an online guest book here if interested. In addition, a look at some online tributes in the wake of Collins' death Sunday morning:
