Former Titan Cornerback Collins Retires from NFL

Mark Collins, a cornerback on the New York Giants’ two Super Bowl championship teams, announced his retirement on Wednesday in Albany, N.Y.

A second-round draft pick out of Cal State Fullerton in 1986, Collins played eight seasons with the Giants. He started for them when they won the 1987 and 1991 Super Bowls, and was in the starting lineup for 104 of his 112 games with New York.

Collins, who played nine games with Seattle last season, re-signed with the Giants earlier this week so he could end his 13-year NFL career with his original team.

“Some of my best memories include winning the two Super Bowls,” Collins said. “We also only had one losing season during my time with the team. As a player, I also liked the way the organization was run.”

Collins also played three seasons with Kansas City--he was named the Chiefs’ most valuable defensive player in 1996--and one each with Green Bay (‘97) and Seattle. In 168 career games, he had 749 tackles, 27 interceptions and three touchdowns, two on interceptions and one on a fumble recovery.

In 1984, he helped Fullerton win 11 of 12 games, losing only to Nevada Las Vegas, which had to later forfeit the game.

Collins is the third member of New York’s Super Bowl teams who re-signed to retire as a Giant. Center Bart Oates and defensive tackle Leonard Marshall also did it.

Former Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy, now head coach at Fullerton College, regarded Collins and former quarterback Damon Allen, still playing in the Canadian League, as the top Titan athletes he coached. The school dropped football in 1992.

“I could tell right away that he was going to be an outstanding player for us,” Murphy said. “He ended up starting for us as a freshman after three games. He was just an 18-year-old kid when he came to us, but he was really mature, and his attitude and outlook were outstanding.”

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The Redskins have agreed to terms with Irving Fryar, luring the five-time Pro Bowl receiver out of retirement, the Associated Press reported.

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Former NFL player Demetrius DuBose was shot 11 times by San Diego police, mostly in the back and stomach, when they say he fought them during an arrest attempt last month, according to an autopsy report.

DuBose, 28, also had traces of Ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol in his blood when he was killed in his Mission Beach neighborhood, where police say he burglarized a home.

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Deion Sanders, coming back from an injured left toe that kept him out of the final five games last season, is still bothered by the toe and says he is not sure when he will be able to return to the Dallas Cowboys. Also, the Cowboys’ other starting cornerback, Kevin Smith, is out of practice indefinitely because of a sore lower back. . . . Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair missed practice because of a stiff back and probably will not start an exhibition game against Arizona on Friday. . . . Quinn Early, who has caught 454 passes in a 12-year career, was signed by the New York Jets.

Denver Bronco free safety Tori Noel was diagnosed with a herniated disk, an injury that might be career-threatening. It is the second time the second-year player has had such an injury. The Broncos said surgery would mean Noel would be lost for the year if not longer. . . . Arizona Cardinal lineman Lester Holmes will be issued a traffic citation in connection with a rollover accident that severely injured teammate Ernest Dye.