He holds the NFL record for longest gap between starts in post-merger history, ten years and two days.

Collins attended Walpole High School, located just a few miles from Foxboro, Massachusetts, the home of the New England Patriots.

As a senior he led his football team to a state championship, a feat that helped earn him SuperPrep All-America honors.

Also that year, he guided his basketball squad to the state semifinals, garnering 18 points and 10 rebounds a game along the way.

In his senior season (1994), he connected on 186 of 288 attempts for 2,518 yards with 13 touchdowns and ten interceptions en route to a 24–14 Holiday Bowl win over Colorado State.

Collins' collegiate passing totals read 457 completions on 711 attempts for 5,858 yards with 37 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, which comes out to a 145.0 career quarterback efficiency rating.

In 1996, Collins was the number two Bills quarterback behind Jim Kelly, and saw action in seven games (three starts), completing 55 of 99 attempts (55.6%) with four touchdowns and five interceptions.

Taking charge of a team depleted by injuries and drained by the shooting death of safety Sean Taylor nine days earlier, Collins completed 15 of 20 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Redskins to a 24–16 victory.

Collins won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Chicago Bears.

Those victories were over the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings, and a 27–6 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the season finale.

In the wild card playoff game against the Seahawks, Collins completed 29 of 50 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns.

Collins made the roster as the second-string quarterback after Jay Cutler and ahead of Caleb Hanie.

[9] Collins also saw limited action in the Bears' 21–14 NFC Championship game loss to the Packers, relieving the injured Cutler in the third quarter before being replaced by Hanie after suffering a shoulder injury.