College football fanatics likely remember the name Thunder Collins: aside from being a tailback in the twilight years of Nebraska’s heyday (as they’ve basically all been since Tom Osborne retired), Thunder Collins was also a man named freaking Thunder Collins and that’s awesome. When we first heard from him lately, he was dead; that condition was later upgraded to “alive and unharmed.”

(Oh, Thunder…)

That was all part of a homicide in Omaha last year, one that Collins just so happened to be at the scene of, as he told reporters. Comes now that the reason Collins was unharmed was because he was evidently on the other end of the violence. Thus, Collins has been convicted of first degree murder.

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After a confusing conflagration of events surrounding a tragic death earlier this week in Omaha, former Nebraska running back Thunder Collins has now officially been charged with murder.

Steve Cofield of Yahoo Sports tipped me off to Collins’ Myspace page, and I’m happy to report that despite Collins’ being hauled into court this morning and jailed shortly thereafter, he’s somehow “Online Now!” on the page (as of 2:20p ET). Yeah, I know it might not be him, but I’m holding out hope that Myspace is now available at all Douglas County correctional facilities.  That should be fine for the inmates, so long as they keep filtering that disgusting SI porno.

I’ve spent all week reading about how Collins’ friends say he would never, ever be involved in murderous activities. And after looking through his somehow-public Myspace page (and fun photos after the jump), I’m now more than ever convinced that Collins is completely innocent of all charges. And future ones too. Read more…

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The saga of ex-Nebraska running back Thunder Collins is getting stranger as more details emerge. As has been widely reported, Collins was one of three men charged in Omaha with the murder of 38-year-old Timothy Thomas and the attempted murder of a 26-year-old man who was found in critical condition in a motel on the other side of town.

Police are now saying that the shootings are the result of a drug deal gone bad, or, rather, a drug deal in which the assailants never intended to pay. It’s not yet known how Collins is linked to the other two suspects. The victims were both from suburban Los Angeles. It’s also unknown why they happened to be in Omaha. And making this more bizarre, it was originally rumored that Collins was the victim of the shooting, and he had to confirm to a local television station that he was actually alive. He didn’t mention at the time that he was the one doing the shooting (allegedly).

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