After a bumpy journey that included 13 years in prison, high school football hero Cecil Collins has been formally welcomed back to his hometown.
Collins, 47, was inducted into the Leesville High School sports hall of fame Friday during a day-long celebration that some residents thought would never happen.
He was honored at an early morning alumni coffee and addressed students during a mid-morning homecoming assembly.
Collins was toasted by community leaders at a noon luncheon and midday parade and introduced before the game on the field where he set records in 1995.
At times the onetime running back, who exploded on the LSU football scene in 1997, was nearly overcome by the outpouring of support.
“It’s emotional, ya’ll,” Collins told students during the rowdy homecoming assembly.
“This is hard, emotional,” he said during remarks at the luncheon.
James Williams, who was offensive coordinator for part of Collins’ high school career, said he was struck by how far Collins had come since those bleak days when residents wondered how he wound up in prison.
“He went from the hometown hero to being the guy nobody wanted to talk about,” said Williams.
“To see the changes he made in his personal life, that is the biggest thing for me,” he said.
“All the touchdowns and wins don’t mean that much to me anymore.”
“What means more to me is seeing a young man who has gone through what he went through and kept his head above water,” said Williams, who is now superintendent of public schools for Vernon Parish.
Leesville is located about 60 miles west of Alexandria near Fort Johnson — formerly Fort Pork – a sprawling U. S. Army installation.
It is far from Louisiana’s biggest media markets, which made Collins statewide fame nearly three decades ago all the more remarkable.
In 1995 Collins led the Leesville High School Wampus Cats to the school’s first and only appearance in a state championship game.
He rushed for an unheard of 3,045 yards during his senior year, scored 40 touchdowns and was named Louisiana’s first Mr. Football in 1995.
He put a town of around 8,000 on the national football map after generations of only modest success.
In 1997 he made his LSU debut, rushing for 596 yards in just four games and causing football broadcasters to gush over his speed and bruising running style.
But after suffering a broken leg against Vanderbilt Collins was kicked off the team for illegally entering a dwelling, according to news accounts.
He later spent 13 years in a Florida prison for burglary – Colllins played briefly for the Miami Dolphins – and saw his world crashing down.
“I had lost everything,” Collins said. “I had lost my career.”
He said he had a religious awakening in prison.
“I found God, I found Jesus Christ,” he said. “That is what changed my life.”
But some Leesville residents remained puzzled, hurt and skeptical.
They had trouble reconciling the happy-go-lucky high school student with astounding football talents with the tarnished star who spent more than a decade behind bars.
Collins was twice nominated for the Sports Hall of Fame but fell short.
“I think there were some people involved in the selection process that had some kind of axe to grind because of the negative publicity he brought to the school,” said Rick Barnickle, a TV and radio broadcaster who watched Collins play from 1992-95.
“They need to get over it,” Barnickle said in a recent interview.
Backers said it made no sense for a player who all but defines the school’s 114-year-old program to be kept out of its sports hall of fame.
Danny Smith, who was head coach at Leesville High when Collins played there, is now athletic director at Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge and around aspiring athletes all the time.
“I tell kids today ‘You think you are a dude? I coached a dude,’” said Smith, who Collins calls a father figure.
“He played the game with passion. He played the game with heart. But he was the ultimate team player,” Smith said.
Earlier this year Collins was finally voted in by the alumni association on a 9-3 vote.
His name on the plaque outside the school auditorium that lists hall of fame members includes the nickname that he is still known by today: Cecil “The Diesel” Collins.
Friends and former athletes said Collins’ journey from prison to a new life as husband, father and grandfather is more impressive than his football credentials.
He is an electrician and moved to Gonzales last December.
Kevin Mawae, a 1989 inductee into the Leesville Sports Hall of Fame, is also a member of the NFL Hall of Fame after a memorable career at LSU and then the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks.
He has known Collins for years.
“For him to go through the struggles he did, to redeem himself and become a valuable community member, it says a lot, especially for this community,” Mawae said.
“They love him here.”
Darin Worthington, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Leesville, arrived in Leesville from Nashville well after Collins’ heyday but heard stories about his exploits.
“I said ‘Cecil Collins? Who is this guy? What a legend.’”
He added, “We all have things in our past we wish were different, including the pastor.”
Sedric Clemons, a former Wampus Cat teammate who has known Collins since they were in the sixth grade and was a star player at Tulane, said the induction was cause for celebration.
“It means everything to the town,” Clemons said.
“Friday nights Leesville was basically shut down because everyone came to see Leesville football and he was a big part of that,” he added.
Chuck Owen, a former Leesville High football player who wrote a detailed history of the program, said it is hard to say exactly why it took so long for Collins to gain admittance to the sports hall of fame.
Collins was honored nearly two decades after he became eligible.
“I think everyone just wants to say welcome home,” Owen said.
Be the first to comment