5 October 2023
The Gophers and Vikings are linked this season by a lifelong connection that started in Virginia almost 25 years ago.
Kimberly Cherry and LaTanya Collins became close friends in the dorms at Virginia State in the late 1990s. Cherry then gave birth to Christian Darrisaw in Petersburg, Va., in June 1999, and they settled outside of Baltimore, Md. Collins had her son Chris Collins that December, and they went to Richmond, Va.
The mothers and their soon-to-be very large sons have been connected ever since, and the boys became friends as they grew older and gravitated toward football. The moms will meet up again this weekend in Minnesota, a place they couldn’t have envisioned a reunion.
“Super random,” LaTanya Collins said. “But it’s been cool.”
With Darrisaw the Vikings’ left tackle and Collins a defensive end for the Gophers, their moms are coming to town to partake in both marquee football games this weekend — Gophers-Michigan on Saturday night, followed by Vikings-Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. The boys, however, will be busy with their own team’s schedules and will be cheering for each other from only a few miles away.
Less than years after Darrisaw was drafted out of Virginia Tech in the first round in 2021, Collins decided to leave the University of North Carolina via the NCAA transfer portal at the end of 2022. Collins landed with the Gophers in January, in part, because of the comfort in knowing Christian was here.
“It was definitely a driving factor,” he said.
Collins’ college roommates at North Carolina was Vikings running back Ty Chandler, so Collins had not one but two friends in his new home. Darrisaw wanted to give Collins a support system, if need be.
“It’s been that strong relationship,” Darrisaw said. “Once he made that move to Minnesota, whatever he needs, I got him. Pretty much that type of nature. That is my brother.”
It’s tough for Darrisaw and Collins to meet up when both are in-season, given their busy and conflicting schedules. But Collins came to the U in January, so the old friends were able to hang out in the offseason, when Collins was just getting his feet underneath him.
“I got to see them a lot, at least once a week,” Collins said of Chandler and Darrisaw. “I have a car out here. Christian lives downtown, and Ty is in Eagan. Nothing but a drive away. I definitely hung out with those guys whenever I could.”
Both Darrisaw and Collins were in the 2018 high school recruiting class, and they went one-on-one during a camp. They had two reps in a pass-rush/pass-blocking drill. It was the first time they went against each other, and the parents joke that the results must have been staged, Chris Collins said.
“We still have footage,” LaTanya said. “It’s funny because I think they split. I posted (on Facebook) the one that my Chris won. (Kim) posted the one her Chris won. But it was cool to watch them go head-to-head.”
With the Gophers, Collins had to overcome a lower leg injury that sidelined him during spring practice. He said it was a “little scary” because it needed his first-ever surgery, but he said he was thankful for the people at the U.
“You would have thought I was here for four years,” Collins said. “They treated me so well.”
Collins said he learned about commitment to play college sports from LaTanya and his father Kevin Coles. Both of his parents are coaches.
LaTanya is now associate head coach for the Iona women’s basketball team in New York, but she recalled a story about Chris when she was at Division II Saint Augustine in Raleigh, N.C.
A young Chris was observing her team have a poor first half during one game. She recalled him saying something along the lines of: “You aren’t giving it your best effort” and “you don’t walk away knowing that you didn’t give it everything you had.”
“I’m looking at him because he was like seven (years old),” LaTanya recalled with a laugh. Then, on the court, she chimed in: “Yeah, what he said!”
For the Gophers this season, Collins has been a key contributor as a backup rush end. He has been able to spell starter Danny Striggow by playing 125 total snaps, creating four pressures and five total tackles across all five games.
Fittingly, Collins’ best game so far this season came against North Carolina on Sept. 16. He had an extra bounce in his step against his former team, recording a season-high three tackles and catching an interception against highly regarded quarterback Drake Maye.
“It was big time,” Collins said. “I’m forever grateful for the University of North Carolina giving me the opportunity out of high school. It was big to be able to make a play at a place I used to play at.”
With a support system here if need be, Collins is more comfortable to make plays in his new home.
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