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By John Keim
Photos courtesy of Washington Redskins
A certain behavior attracted attention last December, when Todd Collins ascended to one of the most prominent jobs in Washington: starting quarterback of the Redskins. With that promotion came increased publicity. And with that scrutiny came a sudden interest in a particular body part of his.
His nose.
Reporters chuckled as teammates recounted the number of times Collins would sniff objects. He’ll get a new ball in practice and immediately take a whiff. He’ll do the same with every game plan after it’s handed out. And with every other sheet of paper. And with every newspaper.
“Todd sniffs everything,’’ Redskins center Casey Rabach said. “He sniffs his hands a lot. He’s kind of a goofy guy.’’
In the NFL, his nose makes him quirky, the object of teammates’ locker-room ribbing. But when it comes to Collins’ other love – wine – his penchant for sniffing makes him respected, someone able to detect the faintest hints of flavor missed by others. Nobody pokes fun at him when he lifts a glass of wine to his nose. Certainly, many wine drinkers would be envious. And others would simply wait to see what aromas he’s able to discover.
“He can really sniff it and get all the smells,’’ Redskins offensive lineman Jason Fabini, one of Collins’ few teammates who shares his love of wine and belongs to three wine clubs. “He has a much better nose than I do.’’
“He remembers the smell of every wine,’’ former Kansas City Chiefs teammate Damon Huard told ESPN.com. And he knows he has a gift others appreciate. Once, Collins was drinking some Robert Mondavi Opus One with friends and impressed them with his detailed scent.
“I picked up some leather and everyone was like, ‘How did you pick that up?’ “ he said.
“Then they were like, ‘Yeah, I think I pick that up…I can pick up things in wines that you tell someone else and they’re not thinking of it and then they smell and taste it and pick it up. That’s the fun to me, to talk about the different types of wine with people.’’
That can be hard to do in the NFL, even though more athletes have ventured into wine and wine-making -- perhaps a result of soaring salaries, leading to more expensive hobbies and tastes.
Among the big-named athletes who own vineyards or have their own label: Arnold Palmer, Dick Vermeil, Greg Norman, Joe Montana, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Mike Ditka, Larry Bird, Tom Seaver, Peggy Fleming and Mario Andretti.
Scores of others have broadened their palate beyond beer.
“The general culture is more involved in wine and a lot of athletes have moved beyond beer,’’ Vermeil said. “Not that they’re turning their noses up at beer or anything, but I think they appreciate some other things, they get into wine and start tasting and they combine wines with meals and they go to nice places and they’re not afraid to spend for a top bottle and then they start buying and cellaring and start talking about it.’’
Which is what happened with Collins. His wine hobby grew with his football career.
The second-round draft pick out of University of Michigan in 1995 struggled early in his career – opened too early, perhaps? – with the Buffalo Bills.
Two years later he succeeded eventual Hall of Famer Jim Kelly and committed an unavoidable sin: he wasn’t Kelly. Instead, Collins was rather pedestrian; in 13 starts he threw 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
A year later he was in Kansas City where he played a grand total of zero games the next three years and only 12 in the ensuing five. Most backup quarterbacks play one or two games a year, thanks to injuries or benchings. But Collins had the misfortune of playing behind quarterbacks who were good and never hurt, first Elvis Grbac and then Trent Green.
So Collins kept learning, kept improving and allowed himself to age gracefully as a quarterback. In essence, he was cellared. Finally, when pushed into action last December thanks to a season-ending knee injury suffered by Jason Campbell in the first quarter of a Dec. 9 game against the Chicago Bears, Collins flourished.
Like a quality Brunello or Cabernet, Collins had aged well, leading the Redskins to a 24-16 win over the Bears followed by three straight wins to finish the season. The career backup blossomed into the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month.
“He lit the offense up,’’ said Vermeil, who coached Collins for five seasons in Kansas City. “He happens to be a darned good quarterback. If he’d been playing all year last year, they probably would have been 14-2 just because of his experience … he just never has been where he’s had the opportunity to be a [starting] quarterback. He’s the kind of guy where you let him play in an offense that takes sophistication to run it and he will run it.’’
Collins hoped to parlay his end-of-season success into a starting job elsewhere as a free agent. But, besides Washington, only Jacksonville offered him a contract. The Jaguars didn’t offer him a starting opportunity so the Redskins happily re-signed him to be Campbell’s backup.
Aside from a starting job, Collins would like more wine-drinking teammates. At various points, he has had that. Collins would quaff a glass or two while in Buffalo, visiting wineries in the Finger Lakes region and developing an appreciation for ice wine.
But Kansas City is where his love deepened.
“I loved the way wine could complement a meal,’’ he said.
Former NFL kicker, and Denmark native, Morton Anderson introduced him to finer wines, growing his palate. Three years later Vermeil, reared in Napa Valley, arrived in Kansas City, adding to the list of oenephiles on the team.
Vermeil now has his own label, OnThEdge Winery, which, in 2002, produced a cabernet that wine guru Robert Parker rated a 93. Collins benefited from his knowledge and appreciation of wine: Vermeil bought Collins the annual Robert Parker Encyclopedia and, one birthday, gave him a magnum bottle of his winery’s cabernets.
Another Chiefs quarterback, Damon Huard, shared their hobby and soon so did ex-Redskin Green. Vermeil would invite players by position group to his house where he’d open six or eight bottles of exclusive wines, from Bryant Family Vineyards to Colgin and Araujo Estates.
“Those wines, it’s very difficult to get them,’’ Vermeil said. “I had so much wine and I had some older wines; we’d taste late 80s and early 90s wines. I’m 71; I can’t drink it all by the time I die so that’s another reason I like sharing it with people.’’
One off-season, Vermeil summoned Collins to his office.
“I thought I might be in trouble,’’ Collins said.
It was just the opposite. Vermeil invited him as his guest to a wine tasting at a local hotel with Ed Sbragia, the national winemaker for Beringer Vineyards and friend of Vermeil’s.
The experiences in Kansas City enriched Collins.
“Prior to that I drank mostly California stuff,’’ he said. “I remember those guys saying in order to train your palate, you have to drink more expensive wines. That’s what’s great about tasting it with other people, you don’t have to buy an $80 bottle by yourself.’’
Now he’s into a little of everything. He likes a good Shiraz from Barossa Valley in Australia, Argentinean Malbecs and a number of Italian wines, particularly Brunello di Montelcino. He’s a fan of Chardonnay, ranging from the affordable – like Columbia Crest or Chateau Ste. Michelle – to the moderately priced Rhombauer and 2003 Newton Unfiltered. Pinot Noir is another favorite.
“And I like the South African wines,’’ he said. “I visited Africa before I was a wine drinker and if I could go back in time I’d spend all my time at the wineries.’’
But that return trip would come after two others he wants to make – to Napa and Italy.
His top three wines, regardless of year, would be a Quilceda Creek Cab; the Newton Unfiltered and the Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino. He owns a couple cases of 2003 and 2005 Quilceda Cabs as well as several 1999 Opus Ones. But he does not have a vast collection and settles for a usually-stocked 50-bottle refrigerator, filled with wines to drink now.
Collins is a rookie to Virginia wines, but professes a growing interest. Former Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders would constantly tell him about area wineries, notably Tarara in Leesburg.
So far, his foray with Virginia vino has been a good experience.
“I didn’t know they made so many different types of wines,’’ he said. “I didn’t know they had the climate to grow grapes like that; I figured you had to grow them in California or Washington. … It’s exciting for me to try something from a totally different place.’’
Now, he has begun to seek out vintages from the Old Dominion during the rare times he drinks during the season. His off-season time is generally spent in his native Massachusetts, where he often attends a wine expo in Boston sometime around the Super Bowl.
Collins would prefer to drink a glass or two a day, but instead limits himself to drinking wine three or four days a week. His wife, Andrea, does not share this passion.
“No and I wish she did,’’ he said. “I’m always in that quandary. You want to open a bottle, but you’re alone and you don’t want to drink the whole bottle. Then you won’t be enjoying it like you should.’’
So, for now, Collins quenches his wine habit through reading material, such as Robert Parker’s on-line guide and Wine Spectator magazine. Or via email exchanges with Vermeil and other wine pals from his Chiefs days. That pacifies him, to a point.
“I like talking about it,’’ he said. “[But] not many people are critical wine drinkers in the NFL. We like to sip it, have it. Some guys like to get together and it’s like they’re drinking beer and just throw it down their throat.’’
And that most definitely is not Collins.
“He has a very good palate,’’ Vermeil said. “I don’t have a great palate; I know what’s good to me. Some people can give all these terms; that’s not me. Todd can do that. He enjoys his wine and good food with it and good company. He really knows his wine.’’
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