Now we see why the NFC Champion Chicago Bears were so interested in Demons' defensive tackle Tory Collins.
Monday, the Bears said goodbye to troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson, whose recurring brushes with the law were too much for the organization to tolerate any longer.
That is exactly what head coach Lovie Smith anticipated and exactly why he and the Bears brass was so eager to sign Collins after he wasn't chosen in April's NFL Draft.
Collins was impressive in mini-camp workouts and has clearly moved up in the Bears' pecking order. No guarantee he'll make the final 53-man roster, but no doubt his stock went up as Johnson's tumbled.
Here's what the Bears figured out that other NFL teams didn't: in last year's season opener at Kansas, Collins tore his biceps, and didn't tell anybody. He also started last year bigger than ever before so he wasn't quite as quick off the ball. As the season went on, he got back to his optimal playing weight, but he was still essentially playing one-armed, although it wasn't obvious. His production was down, but he still played well enough to earn first-team All-SLC, first-team All-Louisiana and All-America honors.
In January he had surgery on the biceps muscle. By May, he was turning heads in the Windy City. Who knows, by the end of the NFL's 2007 season, he may be cashing a Super Bowl check.
A telling footnote about "T.C." -- when he came back to NSU following the Bears' mini-camp, one of his first visits was with academic advisor for athletics Julie Lessiter, to thank her for what she's done for him, and to ask her to help him chart the course so he can complete his undergraduate degree.
This young man from New Orleans has been through incredible trials during his Demon days, with Hurricane Katrina wiping out his family's home and scattering them around the country; his older brother's sudden passing, inexplicably, after his safe return from service in Iraq; and the recent drowning of his friend, LSU star and New England Patriots player Marquis Hill.
He's been tested, and he still stands tall. Forget his considerable athletic ability, I think it's his heart that will assure Tory Collins makes it in the NFL, and more important, in life.
Doug Ireland, SID
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