When the Carolina Panthers went looking for a quarterback to build the team around, they looked no further than Kerry Michael Collins, the former Penn State star, who broke six of that team’s season records to earn himself a place in the NFL.

Panthers head coach Dom Capers said Collins is unflappable. “He shows great leadership. If he makes a mistake, he learns from it and goes on.” Collins was the first rookie since Miami’s Dan Marino to post a winning record, directing the Panthers to seven wins in 13 games, and in just his sixth NFL start, he earned a game ball for directing the Panthers to a 13-7 road win over former Superbowl champs San Francisco 49ers, marking tim first time an expansion team had defeated the defending world champions.

Shortly after signing with the Panthers in 1995, Collins started the Kerry Collins Foundation which will donate one million dollars over the next six years to disadvantaged youths in the Carolinas.

Collins was burn in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and his great-grandparents came from Counties Kerry and Cork. “All of my direct relatives come from Ireland,” he said. “At some point I do want to get over there and find out where in Cork and Kerry they are from.” Collins lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and studies at Penn State.