COOL CAT : Collins Has Panther Offense Purring and a Whisker Away From Super Bowl

A day after the biggest game of his life and six days before the next biggest game of his life, Carolina Panther quarterback Kerry Collins found himself surrounded by reporters from around the nation.

This was serious business: How will the Panthers cope with the cold in Green Bay? How about Reggie White? How about the Packers’ success at Lambeau Field?

“Nice shirt, dude,” Collins replied while pointing to a reporter with a smiley-face T-shirt.

Elvis is alive, and he’s playing quarterback for the Panthers. The sideburns are a dead giveaway, running forever down his face, and the shock of hair that refuses to stay in place and rides forward over his right eye offers further proof the King is not dead.

Strap a guitar on this kid and he’d have the whole country rocking.

“Kerry’s cool,” said Matt Elliott, Panther left guard. “Real mellow.”

Right now the young man owns the Carolinas, but the legend is growing: a 7-6 record as a rookie starter for an expansion team, a year after leading Penn State to a dozen victories without a loss, and this season 10-3 in control of the Panthers. Put him in a Super Bowl and youngsters everywhere will begin buying No. 12 Panther jerseys.

Green Bay’s Brett Favre is the league’s most valuable player for the second consecutive year, but in only his second season in the NFL, Collins has gone the last 34 quarters with only three interceptions--and one of those was on a Hail Mary.

Until early December, when Collins gunned down the San Francisco 49ers with the NFC West Division on the line, folks thought the defensive-minded/special teams-dedicated Panthers had nothing but a hound dog playing quarterback. But on that day in San Francisco, the Panther coaching staff decided the only way to beat the 49ers was to take the leash off their young phenom, who responded by throwing on 37 of the Panthers’ 71 plays, completing pass plays of 50, 39 and 32 yards against one of the league’s best defensive units and throwing for three touchdowns to outduel Steve Young.

“This is a big, brute, ox of a guy that is big-boned and can take punishment,” the 49ers’ Bill Walsh said at the time. “They are letting him play, and it’s paying off.”

The Panthers used the franchise’s first draft pick to select Collins, who had impressed General Manager Bill Polian in his senior season at Penn State. The Nittany Lions, who trailed Illinois in the fourth quarter, moved 96 yards with Collins completing seven of seven passes to score and save Penn State’s undefeated season.

“We’ve found our guy,” Polian said after returning to Carolina to meet with team President Mike McCormack.

There was talk, however, at the Senior Bowl after his senior season, that Collins’ passing motion was too slow because of a hitch in his delivery.

“I asked Leigh Steinberg to represent me, and he said what’s the deal with this hitch,” Collins said. “I didn’t know what he was talking about, but after that it was the only thing anyone wanted to talk about. The skycaps in the airport were coming up to me and asking me about my delivery.

“It was like, just take my bags and leave me alone. I started to question myself. There was concern that from the time I made the decision to throw the ball until it left my hands it would be too slow. But I guess I proved the experts wrong.”

The kid with the hitch has started four games against the dominating 49ers and has bested them three times. He has played against the Dallas Cowboys only once, and last week he whipped them in a game that meant everything to both teams. His team has won its last eight games with him at quarterback.

“The development of Kerry Collins over the past two years is the reason why we’re in the NFC championship game this week,” said Frank Garcia, the Panthers’ starting center.

Twenty-nine NFL quarterbacks threw 300 or more passes this season, and only Young threw fewer interceptions (six) than Collins (nine), who is learning on the job. A year ago, 19 of his passes were intercepted.

“We’re reaping the dividends right now for making the decision to start Kerry early on last season and just stick with him,” Carolina Coach Dom Capers said. “The maturation of Kerry Collins has been just incredible from last year to this season.”

Collins is 6 feet 5, 240 pounds, 24 years old and he gushes about the respect he has for Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman, his idol. He has talked with Favre, and he says, “He’s really cool.” When the Panthers worked out against the Denver Broncos in training camp last summer, he went across the field simply to watch John Elway throw the football.

“He’s the man,” Collins said. “It’s a real privilege to be out there with him.”

Elway is home now, and Collins is out there with a chance to play in Super Bowl XXXI. From the outset, he has accepted his role with the Panthers, which is nothing like the way Elway and Favre and Young play. His job is to stay out of the way, avoid mistakes, let the veteran defense control the game and take advantage of kicker John Kasay’s amazing leg.

“The veteran leadership and the coaching staff have stressed to him that he doesn’t need to make the big plays for us to win,” Panther cornerback Toi Cook said. “This team is set up for the defense and special teams and all he has to do is not muck it up.

“He’s smart enough to understand that now. He knows if he doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s the hero, because at the end of the day it’s all about wins and not how many yards he’s thrown for.”

The Panthers gave up an NFL-low 62 second-half points this season, in part because Collins and Co. on offense did not give the ball back to the opposition in Carolina territory.

“They don’t tell the offense not to score or anything like that,” Elliott said, “but the way we do it is through efficiency.”

--The Panthers finished first in the league with the best starting field position--the 31-yard line--after the opponent’s kickoff.

--Carolina posted fewer penalty yards than its opponents in all 17 games this season.

--The offensive line, which averages 2.6 years in experience, allowed Collins to be sacked only three times in the last five games.

--Running back Anthony Johnson, who failed to gain 1,000 yards in four years at Notre Dame and six years in the professional ranks, had 1,120 in relief of an injured Tshimanga Biakabutuka.

“Kerry is a tremendous competitor and he wants to win,” Capers said. “Winning in my opinion is far more important than throwing for 300 yards.”

Collins, who scored the first rushing touchdown in Panther history last season, passed for more than 300 yards once this season, and somehow the Panthers managed to win 13 games.

“Some people worry about stats and comparing stats, but let’s face it, the only thing quarterbacks are measured by is winning Super Bowls,” Collins said. “When the Panthers were getting ready to pick me in the draft, the owner, Jerry Richardson, called me on the phone.

“He asked me if I knew what the Lombardi Trophy was. I said, ‘I sure do, it’s given to the Super Bowl champs.’ He said, ‘Well, we think you’re our guy to get us there, so we’re going to take you--to win a Super Bowl for us.’ That’s really setting the tone, but cutting through everything, that’s why we’re all here.”

The Panthers are one victory from playing in the Super Bowl but realistically have little chance of handling Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

“I’ve never limited myself to thinking I can only do this or do that, or I wouldn’t be here right now,” Collins said with defiance. “I’ve never been the kind of person to be surprised when I’m successful, so for us to be in this position, I’m not surprised.

“This is great being here, but I know this: If I end my career without a Super Bowl win, I will have had a disappointing career.”

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SUNDAY’S GAMES

NFC: Carolina at Green Bay, 9:30 a.m., Ch. 11

AFC: Jacksonville at New England, 1 p.m., Ch. 4

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Collins’ Performance

Where Carolina Panther quarterback Kerry Collins ranked this year in key passing categories:

Category / (Rank)

QB rating: 79.4 (14th)

Completion percentage: .560 (20th)

Yards: 2,454 (22nd)

Average yards: 6.74 (14th)

Touchdowns: 14 (18th)

Fewest interceptions: 9 (3rd)