Jim Collier

Collier was born on May 18, 1939, in Van Buren, Arkansas.[1] He grew up in his hometown, graduating from Van Buren High School in 1957. He played numerous sports in high school, being named all state as a football quarterback and all district in basketball, as well as setting his school's track and field record for pole vault.[2] He attended the University of Arkansas, where he played college football with the Razorbacks from 1959 to 1961. He was a wide receiver and had 514 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns over 28 receptions throughout his three years. In the 1960 season he had three receiving touchdowns, tying him for most in the Southwest Conference.[3] In college, he also played basketball his first year and track for two years.[2]

After graduating, the New York Giants drafted him as the 95th pick of the seventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft.[4] The Giants had a 12–2 record during their 1962 season and finished first in the NFL Eastern division.[5] Collier wore number 84[4] and played thirteen games with one reception for 27 yards.[1] However, he did not get much playing time because he was behind teammates such as Frank Gifford, Del Shofner, and Joe Walton, and he "didn't run fast enough to play in the pros."[6] He scored the only touchdown for the New York Giants in the 1962 NFL Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers when he recovered Packer Max McGee's punt on the goal line after Erich Barnes broke through the defense and blocked the ball.[7] After scoring the extra point, the Giants trailed 10–7 but did not score again and ended up losing the game 16–7.[7][8]

He was drafted as the 244th pick of the 31st round of the 1962 AFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, but he played for the Washington Redskins, wearing number 89.[4] During the 1963 Washington Redskins season, in which the Redskins finished sixth in the NFL Eastern division with a record of 3–11,[9] he played fourteen games with no receptions. After that season he stopped playing in the NFL.[1]

From 1965 to 1979, Collier was a wide receiver coach for the LSU Tigers under head coach Charles McClendon.[6][10] He was also a recruiter there, although he said that "we had players there who would have come there without a scholarship. It was a tradition."[6]^: vi While he was coach, he was relaxed, even letting players borrow his boat to go fishing; Collier once said, "I guess the NCAA would put you in jail for something like this now. Bert [Jones] and Tommy [Casanova] used to come out on Sundays and ask, 'Coach, can we borrow your boat? We want to go fishing.'"[6]^: 64–65