After Nick Collins injured his neck in an NFL game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 18, 2011, doctors told him he had a herniated disk.
Collins, a three-time Pro Bowl safety for the Green Bay Packers, was told it would be risky for him to play again.
It took him nearly three years to listen.
"I was trying to get back into football, but no one really wanted to take the chance," Collins said. "I had a couple of teams that were interested, but they didn't really push the issue and try to bring me in and really give me a shot.
"I just came to realize that I would never get the chance to play football again."
Collins never played again after his frightening injury, announcing his retirement on Twitter on Aug. 19, 2014. In the nearly three years that it took Collins, 33, to reach that conclusion, he struggled to get back on the field _ often with frustrating results.
He saw himself as a football player, and a good one. Collins played seven seasons with Green Bay after he was selected in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft. He played seven seasons with the Packers, collecting 21 regular-season interceptions in 95 games.
He returned an interception for a touchdown in the Packers' 31-25 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in 2011 in Arlington, Texas.
"As a player, you want to walk away from the game on your own terms and not get forced out," Collins said. "My situation was a little different, but at the end of the day, you can only be thankful that you had the opportunity to play one of the best professional sports that's out there. I had a chance to do it and did some great things."
Collins, who was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2016, even took the Lambeau Leap once.
That was enough.
"I didn't want to go back up there," Collins said. "It's kind of crazy when you jump up there with the fans. You don't know what they are going to do to you."
The thrill of playing in front of one of the NFL's most fervent fan bases is no longer there for Collins, but life is good. He has his health, along with his wife, Andrea, and five children.
He coached high school players for the first time in 2016, tutoring the defensive backs at Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic.
"It was quite the experience, getting to see what teenagers are all about and getting to see from their eyes," said Collins, who is seeking a high school head coaching position. "They think they know a whole lot about the game, but they realize they really don't know once you sit down and talk to them.
"We had a great group of guys, and they were eager to learn the game and (improve) their knowledge of the game."
Collins is around football, just in a different way.
"I have nothing to complain about," Collins said.
