CFL star receiver decides it’s over
EDMONTON • His family deserves an answer today, not three months from now, so Ricky Collins Jr. has settled on a difficult one.
The 28-year-old, who was thought to be one of the most coveted wide receivers available in Canadian Football League free agency this year but did not sign a deal, has instead announced his retirement.
“I was talking to my wife (Haley) and my parents and my mentor, thinking about the next chapter of my life, and wanting to be stable and knowing exactly what was next instead of wondering about the uncertainty of the CFL season,” he said Wednesday night from his home in Tyler, Texas.
“I like to have answers for the questions being asked by any one of my family members. It’s extremely hard, but I can say there are no regrets walking away from the game, especially on the high note that I did. This is something I’ve been doing since Pop Warner, all the way to the big show. This has been my life forever, you know. It’s hard because I dedicated countless hours to the dream of playing pro football.”
Collins, a six-foot, 200-pounder, had a breakout season in 2019, with 78 receptions for 1,103 yards and three touchdowns for the Edmonton Football Team. He had signed a three-year deal through the 2021 season and was due a $30,000 roster bonus on Feb. 1, but was instead cut by the team on Jan. 31.
“That left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said.
Even so, he thought there would be interest elsewhere in the league, but nothing materialized.
In fact, there wasn’t much of a market for free agent American wide receivers. Several re-signed with their own teams, including Edmonton’s Greg Ellingson, Bryan Burnham in B.C., B.J. Cunningham and Eugene Lewis in Montreal, and Devier Posey in Hamilton. But only a few Canadian receivers were on the move.
“That’s part of it, too, the fact that free agency opened on the ninth (of February) and one of the top-rated players in free agency is still on the market, you know. My life doesn’t stop. It keeps going forward.”
He has committed himself to working in football on another level. He will run a receiver training school in Tyler as his primary job. He’ll also be coaching at a private school and working at Edge Performance, a training facility.