Two-Time Superbowl Champion Returns to San Bernardino Alma Mater

Former New York Giants defensive back and San Bernardino native Mark Collins will return to Pacific High School on Friday, Sept. 25 to celebrate the Super Bowl’s 50th anniversary by presenting his alma mater with a gold football. Collins, who graduated from Pacific High in 1982, is returning as part of a special NFL celebration honoring every high school in the world that has produced a player or coach who appeared in a Super Bowl. Collins was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1986 NFL draft. He played for the Giants from 1986 to 1993. The NFL estimates that over 3,000 players have played in the Super Bowl, along with 52 coaches. The league invited some of those 3,000 players to personally deliver the gold football to their individual high schools. Collins’ homecoming will take place at noon on Friday during a special student assembly in the Pacific High Auditorium. It’s been 33 years since Collins graduated from Pacific High, a school he continues to support by participating in the development of the District’s Athletic Strategic Plan. The plan aims to increase student participation in sports by providing state-of-the-art facilities and academic support to athletes. For Principal Hector Vazquez, Collins’ return to Pacific is an opportunity to remind all students, not just athletes, that setting goals and believing in themselves will take them far in life. “Mark Collins is an amazing role model for our students,” Vasquez said. “He’s proof that great things are possible when you set goals, work hard, and persevere.”