Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins had a good thing going when he played football in Nashville because he loves football and country music.
The retired American football star has written original country tunes for years. You might say music changed his life.
Collins followed his heart and ears to a George Strait concert in April 2000. He met the love of his life in the crowd, though he couldn't have known it then. All Kerry Collins knew was that he was the New York Giants' starting quarterback, and he still had a lot to prove.
Later that year, Collins had the best season of his National Football League career, capped by the worst game of his professional career.
Kerry Michael Collins was a football player long before he met his wife. The high school kid from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, had a lengthy but under-the-radar career in the NFL. His statistical records indicate a man with two sides, like Harvey Dent before the accident.
Who will you get today: Good Kerry or Bad Kerry?
In his college days, Penn State Nittany Lions fans only knew about Good Kerry.
Kerry Collins' Football Career
Kerry Collins played college football at Penn State University. He led the Nittany Lions to a perfect undefeated season in 1994, capping his college career with a Rose Bowl win over the Oregon Ducks.
Following his senior season heroics, Collins won the Maxwell Award, O'Brien Award, and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. He finished his college career a Consensus All-American and fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. The Carolina Panthers expansion team drafted Collins with the fifth-overall draft pick in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft.
Collins played three-and-a-half seasons in Carolina before demanding a trade to NFC South rival New Orleans Saints. Collins set a franchise record for interceptions in a single season (21) during his short tenure in Carolina. These types of statistics seem to haunt Collins everywhere he goes.
Next, he went to New York. Collins found a short but sweet career resurgence that ended as quickly as it started. Collins, perhaps inspired by love, caught fire in the 2000 regular season and playoffs.
?? Jan 14, 2001 - "It is a wild and raucous sellout crowd at Giants Stadium"
In the #NFCChampionshipGame Kerry Collins went 28-39 for 381 yards & 5 TDs in a 41-0 #NYG rout over the Vikings.
WR's Ike Hilliard 10-155-2TDs & Amani Toomer 6-88-1TD huge.#NYGiantsFilms #TogetherBlue pic.twitter.com/hijHKw2ob5— NY Giants Films (@NYGiantsFilms) January 19, 2021
The QB put up over 350 yards in the NFC Championship Game alone, absolutely pillaging the Minnesota Vikings, 41-0. But it would be Collins who laid an egg in the Super Bowl.
Collins capped off his best NFL season with one of his worst games ever: zero touchdowns and four interceptions.
Writers argue that his Super Bowl XXXV performance against the Baltimore Ravens was the worst performance by any player in a Super Bowl ever. Well, that may be. His performance in the championship was so bad that his career never recovered.
In 2004, the Giants entered the Eli Era. They released Collins, who spent two obligatory seasons with the Oakland Raiders. After his NFL sacred service, Collins shipped off for Tennessee. He arrived in Nashville in 2006. By then, the country music-loving QB had been married for four years.
Collins had a single-season career resurgence as a Tennessee Titan in 2008. He earned a spot in the Pro Bowl, but soon lost his starting position to Vince Young.
Collins retired three years later in 2011, but only for a couple of months.
The Indianapolis Colts convinced Collins to cut his retirement short. He signed a contract to back up Peyton Manning as Peyton recovered from injury. Collins gave it a shot, failed miserably, and went ahead with those retirement plans, anyway.
You win some; you lose some. Sounds like the start of a good country song.
Who is Kerry Collins' Wife?
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In April 2000, George Strait kicked off his summer country music fest at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kerry Collins may have worked in New York, but he would never miss a George Straight festival. He bought his tickets through the mail (or whatever the hell people did back then) and booked it to Charlotte.
Collins went for the music but stayed for the love. He met Brooke Isenhour at the most romantic place on Earth — under the spell of the King of Country.
Their tickets placed the pair within proximity, and Collins decided to give it all he had that night. With George Strait strumming in the background, Collins crossed his heart with Isenhour's. He asked to meet her again; Isenhour checked yes.
The pair married two years later.
But What About That George Strait Concert?
The show was a banger, featuring Tim McGraw and LeeAnn Womack. Here's a setlist. Who wouldn't fall in love under those conditions? We're talking one night featuring all of the above-mentioned stars plus Martina McBride and Kenny Chesney.
How could you not go to this show? It doesn't matter if you're a Jaguar or a Jet — it's a George Strait Music Festival. Those shows killed it, outselling the Rolling Stones and U2 in summer Y2K. That's what you get when you shoot straight, George Strait.
A moment of silence for George Strait.
He's still alive. I just think we should be quiet and listen to his music for a moment. George Strait is a living legend who put on a hell of a country music festival. Kerry Collins and Brooke Isenhour bought tickets independently and just happened to meet at the show.
Their meet-cute was a fool-hearted memory, and they've been in love ever since. All because George Strait had to be in Amarillo by Morning.
Are Kerry & Brooke Still Together?
Write this down — A bond formed at a George Strait show is a bond formed for life.
All Strait's exes may live in Texas, but Collins and Isenhour don't have any ex-spouses. The retired quarterback's home life is much more stable than his time in the NFL.
The Lovebugs are married for 19 years and have a daughter named Riley. All three were present for Collins's induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Kerry Collins's so-so NFL career is an accomplishment to be proud of. He caught lightning in a bottle in the year 2000, both on and off the field.
He looked so good in love and still looks good today. Collins's wife has stuck by his side through several public intoxication incidents, which Collins says are in his past now.
With the help of his wife Brooke, Collins has seen God today. Now he carries their love with him, a love without end, amen. An experience like that could set anyone Strait.
