Career As A Journalist
Collins started writing for the Boston Herald as a sportswriter while he was a student at Boston University. In 1963, he moved to the Boston Globe and also began doing tennis commentary for Boston's Public Broadcasting Service outlet, WGBH. From 1968-72, he worked for CBS Sports during its coverage of the US Open tournament, moving to NBC Sports in 1972 to work that network's Wimbledon coverage. He also teamed with Donald Dell to call tennis matches for PBS television from 1974-77.
For several years with the Boston Globe, he was a general and political columnist. In 1967, he was a candidate for mayor of Boston.
During the 2007 Wimbledon tournament, Collins announced that NBC had chosen not to renew his contract and was letting him go. Collins had covered tennis for the network for 35 years. He insisted that he had no plans to retire and would continue to cover tennis for the Boston Globe. On July 8, 2007, the final day of the tournament, fellow Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan, on the ESPN TV show The Sports Reporters, ridiculed NBC for this decision. He said the 78-year-old Collins "still has his fastball" and praised the Globe for retaining Collins.
Collins was hired by ESPN on August 7, 2007. He currently teams with onetime NBC partner Dick Enberg on the network's Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, and Australian Open coverage. He has also covered the US Open for XM Satellite Radio.
In 1999, Collins was honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, who awarded him the Red Smith Award, which is America’s most prestigious sports writing honor.
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