"Coach, there's too much pressure on me..."

[Mr. Scot]

"Coach, there's too much pressure on me. I can't come in today."

According to Peter King, this is a message that Dom Capers received from Kerry Collins.

Reading that, I'm sure most will assume (as I did) that this message was delivered in 1998 after an awful start to the season led Collins to say his "heart wasn't in it" anymore.

But King says that this message actually came from Collins prior to the first ever Panthers minicamp :skep:

He further states that Capers and Bill Polian had to make excuses to cover up for Collins and hide what was really happening.

Wow :nonod:

[Mother Grabber]

Zoiks...how did he end up staying in the league for so long.

[frash.exe]

Zoiks...how did he end up staying in the league for so long.

he just didn't want to be a panther

[Mr. Scot]

Pretty big red flag that there was trouble ahead.

[OneBadassCat]

He couldn't get Sean Gilbert off his back side.

[Mr. Scot]

Picture for a moment how Ron Rivera would react to this

[Jangler]

Jack and Jim got his heart early, it seems.

[CatMan72]

LOL... just imagine the sleepless nights this caused Polian, Capers, etc on top of everything else.

I guess now we know why they were so intent on giving Reich a shot to be the starting QB. It's ironic that Collins ended up taking over for VY when he started having his issues.

Just goes to show what a crap shoot drafting a QB is, a guy can have all the physical tools, etc and at the end of the day maybe he just can't handle the pressure.

[Jackofalltrades]

Caught that earier on twitter, no surprise at all.

[Mr. Scot]

It's illustrative that you can't just go by on-field stats when you're looking to acquire a player (especially a quarterback).

You have to get into these guys' heads and see what makes them tick. If you don't, you wind up building your franchise around a Kerry Collins, or a Vince Young, or a Ryan Leaf, or a JaMarcus Russell. And then when they go kablooey, you're screwed.

[KillerKat]

he just didn't want to be a panther

I really believe that. When I was a kid I got a Kerry Collins statue/doll and when you press a button that was on the platform, he would talk about the day he got drafted. He mentioned he would've liked to be on one of the more traditional teams like the Giants etc. Never thought much of it as a kid, but now those words are quite alarming.

[Panthro]

He was young, dumb, and immature. He's been a servicable QB since then.

[CatMan72]

It's illustrative that you can't just go by on-field stats when you're looking to acquire a player (especially a quarterback).

You have to get into these guys' heads and see what makes them tick. If you don't, you wind up building your franchise around a Kerry Collins, or a Vince Young, or a Ryan Leaf, or a JaMarcus Russell. And then when they go kablooey, you're screwed.

...and even at that, it's hard to predict how these kids will handle the pressures of being an NFL QB. I don't care what school you went to, how much attention you got, etc... there's nothing to simulate the pressure of being an NFL starting QB.

[CatMan72]

I still remember hearing stories about Collins being out at bars in Charlotte drinking and chain smoking on weeknights during the season...