During the 2007 Wimbledon tournament, Collins announced that NBC had chosen not to renew his contract and was letting him go. Collins had covered tennis for the network for 35 years. He insisted that he had no plans to retire and would continue to cover tennis for "The Boston Globe". On July 8, 2007, the final day of the tournament, fellow "Globe" sportswriter Bob Ryan, on the ESPN TV show "The Sports Reporters", ridiculed NBC for this decision. He said the 78-year-old Collins "still has his fastball" and praised the "Globe" for retaining Collins.