Richard Collier

Richard Collier
No. 76
Position Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born October 23, 1981 (age 44)
Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 352 lb (160 kg)
Career information
College Valdosta State
NFL draft 2006: undrafted
Career history

Richard Bernard Collier (born October 23, 1981) is an American former professional football player. He played offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) from 2006 to 2008, until a shooting incident left him paralyzed from the waist down, ending his football career.

Collier played college football for the Valdosta State University Blazers. He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2006 as an undrafted free agent, and played two seasons for the team. His career was cut short after he suffered multiple gunshot wounds in early September 2008. As a result, he was left paralyzed and with his left leg amputated.

Collier was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He played football at Northwood High School, where he graduated in 2001. Poor grades prevented him from attending college, and he spent the next two years working in the produce section of a local Wal-Mart. Eventually, he decided to give football and college another try, and enrolled at Tyler Junior College in Texas. There he soon improved both his grades and his physical fitness, and made the Tyler football team's starting lineup. In 2004, he transferred to Valdosta State University in Georgia, where he played for the Valdosta State Blazers football team. The team won the 2004 NCAA Division II Football Championship, and Collier received All-America honors in 2005, his senior year.