Todd Collins ( quarterback ) Todd Steven Collins ( born November 5 , 1971 ) is a former American football quarterback . He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft . He played college football at Michigan . Collins played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins . He has spent the majority of his NFL career as a backup quarterback , spending several years serving behind Elvis Grbac and Trent Green of the Chiefs . He holds the NFL record for longest gap between starts in post - merger history , ten years and two days . On October 3 , 2009 , Collins said he would retire after the 2009 NFL season , but in August 2010 he was signed by the Chicago Bears and started their fourth preseason game . Early years . Collins was born in Walpole , Massachusetts . Collins attended Walpole High School , located just a few miles from Foxboro , Massachusetts , the home of the New England Patriots . As a senior , he led his football team to a state championship , a feat that helped earn him SuperPrep All - America honors . He was named New England Player of the Year by the " Boston Globe " . As a junior , he held a 10 - 0 record for the baseball team as a right - handed pitcher . Also that year , he guided his basketball squad to the state semifinals , garnering 18 points and 10 rebounds a game along the way . College career . Collins attended and played football for the University of Michigan from 1990 – 1994 , though he was redshirted as a freshman in 1990 . He completed one of two passes in the Rose Bowl as a redshirt freshman on January 1 , 1992 , after netting 15 completions on 24 attempts for 135 yards during the regular season . Collins started two games as a sophomore in 1992 when he completed 66 of 101 passes for 693 yards with seven touchdown s and three interceptions . As an All - Big Ten Honorable Mention and Academic All - Big 10 as a junior in 1993 , he led the squad to a 42 – 7 Hall of Fame Bowl victory over North Carolina State University . His best collegiate season came that junior year when he hit on 189 of 296 attempts for 2 , 509 yards with 17 touchdowns and just seven interceptions . In his senior season ( 1994 ) , he connected on 186 of 288 attempts for 2 , 518 yards with 13 touchdowns and ten interceptions en route to a 24 – 14 Holiday Bowl win over Colorado State University . Collins ' collegiate passing totals read 457 completions on 711 attempts for 5 , 858 yards with 37 touchdowns and 20 interceptions , which comes out to a 145 . 0 career QB efficiency rating . Collins and Michigan ' s 1994 squad are most remembered for beating Notre Dame on a last second field goal by Remy Hamilton and for losing to Colorado on Kordell Stewart ' s Hail Mary pass known as Rocket Left . Professional career . Buffalo Bills . Collins was selected in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills . In 1995 , he earned the Bills backup job , playing in seven games with one start . That season , he hit on 14 of 29 attempts for 112 yards with one interception . In 1996 , Collins was the number two Bills quarterback behind Jim Kelly , and saw action in seven games ( three starts ) , completing 55 of 99 attempts ( 55 . 6 % ) with four touchdowns and five interceptions . Collins was considered Kelly ' s " heir apparent " when Kelly announced his retirement following the 1996 season . In 1997 , he won the Bills starting job at quarterback after beating out Alex Van Pelt and Billy Joe Hobert in training camp and saw duty in 14 games ( 13 starts ) where he completed 215 of 391 passes ( 55 . 0 % ) , good for 2 , 367 yards with 12 touchdowns , and 13 interceptions . Under Collins ' s leadership , the Bills missed the playoffs for only the second time since 1988 , prompting the Bills to release Collins after one season as starter and sign Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie as his potential replacements . Kansas City Chiefs . Collins signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1998 , where he did not see any regular season game action the first three seasons . For his first three seasons , Collins was the third string quarterback behind Rich Gannon and Warren Moon . Between 2001 and 2005 , he was listed as the Chiefs ’ backup quarterback in all the games , seeing action in 12 games . Washington Redskins . On March 14 , 2006 , Collins was signed by the Washington Redskins to a two - year , $ 2 . 5 million contract . Collins was brought in because of offensive coordinator Al Saunders having knowledge of Collins and knowing Collins could assist as a signal caller and backup . On December 6 , 2007 , Collins replaced Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell , who was injured . Taking charge of a team depleted by injuries and drained by the shooting death of safety Sean Taylor nine days earlier , Collins completed 15 of 20 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns , leading the Redskins to a 24 – 16 victory . Collins won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Chicago Bears . Coach Joe Gibbs was particularly pleased with the performance , saying " I don ' t know that I ' ve ever had a better performance coming off the bench . Ever . " Following the victory over the Chicago Bears ( which improved the Redskins to 6 - 7 ) , Collins led the Redskins to three more consecutive victories to close out the regular season . Those victories were over the New York Giants , the Minnesota Vikings , and a 27 – 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the season finale . The Redskins ' four straight victories at the end of the season left them with a 9 - 7 record , securing the Redskins ' bid for a wild card playoff berth against the Seattle Seahawks . Collins finished the season with a quarterback rating of 106 . 4 . Following completion of the regular season , he was voted NFC Offensive Player of the Month for December . In the wild card playoff game against the Seahawks , Collins completed 29 of 50 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns . He also threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter , both of which were returned for touchdowns by the Seahawks defense . These were Collins ' first interceptions since the 1997 season . The Redskins lost the game by a score of 35 – 14 , eliminating them from further postseason competition . In 2008 and 2009 , Collins again backed up Jason Campbell . On February 29 , 2008 , despite interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars , Collins was re - signed by the Redskins . His three - year contract was worth an estimated $ 9 million . Collins took no snaps in the 2008 season . In the 2009 season he saw action in three games as a backup , throwing 12 for 23 for 144 yards . On March 4 , 2010 , Collins was released by the Redskins . Chicago Bears . Collins was signed by the Chicago Bears to a one - year deal for the 2010 season . Terms of the deal were not disclosed . Collins made the roster as the second - string quarterback after Jay Cutler and ahead of Caleb Hanie . Collins played for the Bears in the fourth game of the season , beginning the second half of the Week 4 matchup against the New York Giants when starter Jay Cutler suffered a concussion in the first half . Collins finished that game 4 for 11 for 36 yards , no touchdowns and one interception . The Bears lost 17 – 3 , their first loss of the season , falling to 3 - 1 . He would fill in for Cutler in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers . In that start , Collins completed six of 16 passes for 32 yards , threw four interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 6 . 2 . He was relieved at the end of the third quarter by Caleb Hanie . The Bears won 23 – 6 . Collins also saw limited action in the Bears ' 21 - 14 NFC Championship game loss to the Packers , relieving for the injured Jay Cutler in the third quarter before being replaced again by Hanie after suffering a shoulder injury . This turned out to be the final game of his career . NFL statistics . Career high in bold References .