Austin Collie

Collie starred as a wide receiver at Oak Ridge High School and garnered many awards. He was a PrepStar and SuperPrep All-American as well as being voted Northern California's Most Valuable Player. During his senior season, he recorded 60 receptions for a total of 978 yards and 18 touchdowns. In 2004, Collie became an Eagle Scout.

In 2004, Collie was named MWC Freshman of the Year. He was also named the MVP of the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl and all–MWC first–team receiver in 2008.

In December 2009, Collie's hometown newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, named him Sacramento Area's Player of the Decade (2000–2009).

On January 9, 2009, Collie announced in a press conference that he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2009 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts then drafted him in the fourth round.

Collie started his second year promising, making numerous touchdown catches and establishing himself as Peyton Manning's "go-to guy", after Dallas Clark suffered a season-ending injury. However, on November 7, 2010, Collie was involved in a collision against the Philadelphia Eagles, in which he was hit on both sides of his head by Quintin Mikell and Kurt Coleman. Collie was taken off the field on a stretcher. According to a televised ESPN update, Collie was seen sitting up and moving after several minutes working with medics. Collie suffered a concussion as a result of the collision. Coleman was penalized for unnecessary roughness for the hit on Collie, but neither player was fined, as the NFL later ruled that the contact that caused the injury was incidental as a result of Mikell's initial hit. On December 19, 2010, Collie was hit in the head by Jaguars linebacker Daryl Smith and was down for several minutes. It was his second concussion-related injury that year and ultimately ended his 2010 season. Despite the fact that no fines have been assessed, the highly visible injuries to Collie have added to the debate about violent hits in football. On December 22, 2010, Collie was placed on injured reserve, the seventeenth Colt to end his season early in 2010. Collie played in all 16 games, making 5 starts, during the 2011 regular season but managed to only catch one touchdown pass among his 54 receptions. During a 2012 preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Collie suffered his third concussion of his career. During the third game of the 2012 season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Collie suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee, causing him to miss the rest of the 2012 season.

On February 15, 2013, Collie was told he would not be re-signed by the Colts.

On August 2, 2013, the San Francisco 49ers signed Collie to a 1−year contract. He was released on August 31, 2013, during final roster cuts.

The New England Patriots signed Collie as a free agent on October 3, 2013. He was signed for a one-year, veteran-minimum contract, which is $715,000 but prorated to $546,765. Due to Collie's previous injuries, the contract included an injury waiver, meaning the Patriots could release him if he was injured and only owe him a "split" (50%) of the contract. He was released November 5, 2013 because of a knee injury, after only 3 catches for 34 yards. He was re-signed by the Patriots on December 5, 2013 to add depth with rookie wideouts Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins dealing with nagging injuries. He was released once more on December 27, 2013 only to be re-signed on January 2, 2014. The Patriots released Collie again after the NFL playoffs.

On January 29, 2015, it was announced that Collie had signed a contract with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. In his only CFL season, Collie played in 16 games, catching 43 passes for 439 yards with 7 touchdowns. Collie also recorded a touchdown as a passer, throwing a 21 yard score to quarterback Jonathon Jennings on a trick play.

On April 8, 2016, Collie announced his retirement from professional football.