Penn State Football: Kerry Collins Signs with Indianapolis Colts

Kerry Collins was pulled out of retirement by the Indianapolis Colts, who were in need of a veteran option while Peyton Manning continues to recover from neck surgery.

Colts owner Jim Irsay announced the signing via Twitter and later explained that the plan to work Collins into the offense would be addressed later.

Whenever Collins does make his first appearance in a Colts uniform, it will be the first time he has worn the colors of blue and white since guiding Penn State to an undefeated season in 1994, capped with a Rose Bowl victory.

Collins temporarily wrapped up a 16-year career between five NFL teams with 40,411 passing yards (11th all-time), 206 touchdowns (29th) and one Super Bowl appearance. Collins, a native of Lebanon, PA, was drafted fifth overall in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, where he was quick to become the starting quarterback. In the franchise's second year in the league Collins led the Panthers to the 1996 NFC Championship game, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre.

Collins remains one of the top offensive players in Penn State history as well. A two-year starter for the Nittany Lions, Collins ushered in the Big Ten era of Penn State football during the 1993 and 1994 seasons, going 21-5 dating back to the 1992 season (19-2 in first two years of Big Ten conference membership). He graduated with 5,304 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes and was the recipient of the 1994 Maxwell Award (top player), Davey O'Brien Award (top NCAA quarterback), Sammy Baugh Award (top passer) and the College Quarterback of the Year award. During his collegiate career Collins closed in on the NCAA pass efficiency record but fell a bit short with a rating of 172.8, the fourth highest in NCAA history.

One of the many highlights from the 1994 season happens to be one of the better moments from Collins' career. Needing to go 96 yards to score a touchdown and avoid a devastating loss on the road against Illinois, Collins used precise passing and demonstrated good awareness and patience in driving the Nittany Lions down field in a clutch situation. Penn State pulled out a victory to remain in the national championship discussion and in front of the Big Ten race.

Collins finished fourth in the 1994 Heisman voting and was hurt by the fact that he and teammate Ki-Jana Carter were both named finalists for the award, which may have resulted in a splitting of the votes. Collins was 2-1 in bowl games, winning the 1995 Rose Bowl to complete an undefeated season and knocking off Tennessee in the 1994 Citrus Bowl with Heath Shuler leading the Vols.

When he left Penn State for the NFL, Collins ranked third on the career passing list behind Tony Sacca and Chuck Fusina. Since then Collins has been passed by Zack Mills and Daryll Clark on that list. During the 2009 season Clark also passed Collins' Penn State record for most passing yards in a single season, throwing for 3,003 yards. Collins held the record with 2,679 yards in the 1994 season. The school record for most yards per attempt (10.15 yards) still belongs to Collins, as does the record for most passing yards in a single game (35s yards vs. Michigan State, 1993) and his record for most consecutive pass completions (14 vs. Minnesota, 1994). His completion percentage marks for a season (66.7 percent, 1994) and career (56.3 percent, 1991-94) still stand today in the Penn State record books.

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.