When you lose something you love, it hurts.
When you are the reason for this loss, it is doubly painful.
And when you are fortunate enough to get back what you once thought was gone, you are relieved. Blessed. Forever thankful.
So goes the past few weeks for Oregon tight end LaCorey Collins, who will be in uniform today when the Ducks hold their second major scrimmage of the spring at approximately 5 p.m. at Autzen Stadium.
On April 4 — the Ducks’ first spring practice — head coach Mike Bellotti was visibly disturbed in announcing the absences of tailback Herman Ho-Ching and Collins. Both players were not only not a part of the team, but were dismissed from the University altogether for academic reasons.
At the time, Bellotti made it sound as if there was a possibility of Ho-Ching’s return in the fall, but that Collins’ up-and-down Oregon career was finished.
It was yet another setback to the enigma that is Collins, who had come out of the Bay Area hailed as one of Oregon’s most decorated signees ever.
But whether it was his knee or his thumb, there always seemed to be something holding him back that was out of his control.
Until this spring. This time it was his grades that kept him out of Oregon’s first two workouts.
“It was a big setback, but it was something that I brought upon myself,” Collins said. “I got into this situation myself and I have to get out of this situation by myself.”
Those two days of not playing the game he loved were
devastating.
“Without football, I’m just a student,” Collins said. “I came here to be a student-athlete and I’m going to fulfill my goals and work hard.”
The 6-4, 235-pound Oakland, Calif., native nearly missed his chance to do so. But on April 6, the final day that students could enroll in classes for spring term, Collins regained admission to the University and suited up for practice.
“With LaCorey being back, it certainly adds that big play potential,” Bellotti said. “But I’m not making any predictions or holding my breath with him at this point. He has some serious work to do.
“But the most important thing is his performance in the classroom.”
Collins admits that football is definitely secondary right now as opposed to academics.
“I have a mind boggle right now,” Collins said. “Things are just getting over, so I just need to focus on football when I’m out here and take care of business off of it.”
Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington knows the versatility Collins brings to the tight end position with that “wide receiver mentality.”
“It’s very nice to have him back because he adds a different dimension to the offense,” Harrington said. “He’s at a disadvantage right now, but I feel he can work himself back in.”
So does Bellotti, who described his tight end’s performance in the scrimmage last Saturday as simply “average.”
Collins is often reminded of his amazing one-handed grab of a Harrington pass in the Ducks win over Texas-El Paso on Sept. 11.
It is a play that was anything but “average” and demonstrated his unquestioned potential. The same potential that Collins plans to capitalize on with his fortunate second chance.
“I don’t want that play to be my glory,” Collins said. “I just want to get past all of this and spring forward.”

Duck updates
Jermaine Hanspard’s experiment with the tailback position is over. The dual sport athlete has been moved to a more comfortable position of cornerback…
The tailback position will not be cleared up until the fall when junior college sensation Maurice Morris arrives from Fresno City College…
Although not selected in the NFL Draft, former Ducks Justin Wilcox (Washington), Brandon McLemore (Tennessee) and Tony Hartley (Cincinnati) have signed free agent contracts with their respective teams. Hartley teams up with other former Ducks — WR Damon Griffin and QB Akili Smith.