LAKE FOREST, Ill. – It’s been nearly two weeks, but Bears rookie defensive tackle Tory Collins is still haunted by a message that he received on his cell phone on Memorial Day.

On the other end of the line was close friend and fellow New Orleans native Marquise Hill, who was calling to inquire whether Collins could join him at Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana later that day to eat crawfish and ride jet skis.

Tory Collins signed with the Bears after impressing coaches at the rookie minicamp.

Collins, who was in Chicago preparing for the Bears’ first OTA workout the following day, called back to decline the invitation from Hill, a defensive end with the New England Patriots.

A few hours later, a mutual friend phoned the Northwestern State product to inform him that Hill had drowned in a jet ski accident.

“I couldn’t believe it because I had just talked to him earlier that morning,” Collins said. “He was asking me how camp was going, things like that. When I heard the news, I broke down crying. It’s just a sad loss.

“It pretty much freaks me out because I still have his voice on my cell phone. There are so many things that I keep thinking about. If I was on that jet ski with him, would I have lost my life too?”

Collins was signed by the Bears after impressing coaches while participating in the team’s rookie minicamp in early May on a tryout basis.

Making an NFL team as an undrafted rookie is extremely difficult, but Collins faces an even greater challenge. Hill’s death was just the latest in a series of tragedies that has knocked the 6-3, 280-pounder to his knees.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Collins’ family home and all of his possessions, from Pee Wee football trophies to his high school diploma.

For a few weeks, he and his fiancée shared their campus apartment in Natchitoches, La., with his mother, two sisters, brother, stepfather and other relatives whose houses were also wiped out by the fierce storm.

Then last season, while he was preparing for Northwestern State’s homecoming game, his brother, Mark Collins, died suddenly at the age of 30 from complications related to diabetes.

“Everything constantly keeps happening to me and I wonder if it’s a sign that the Lord’s trying to give me,” Collins said after a recent Bears practice. “But I can’t question the Lord. I just have to keep praying. It’s like you’re here one day and you’re gone the next day. That’s why I try to stay in the bible and keep my head on straight because things are happening so fast.”

If anyone can overcome those obstacles, Northwestern State coach Scott Stoker believes that it's Collins.

A tattoo on Tory Collins' forearm honors the memory of his brother.

"He's a very strong person," Stoker said. "He's a very passionate kid. He's a tender-hearted guy who loves to play the game. He's a very family-oriented person. As soon as he got back from Chicago, the first thing he did was come see us at the office. He's just that type of kid. He's not going to forget where he comes from."

Collins will need to summon all of his strength to deal with Hill's death. The two lived about four miles apart in New Orleans and Hill was a major reason that Collins initially enrolled at LSU before transferring to Northwestern State.

“Marquise was like a dad to me that I never had,” Collins said. “He was a good friend of mine. He kind of guided me through my life and the direction I needed to go because I was pretty much lost without a father. He was one of the ones that really looked over me.

“I feel lonely because I don’t have a big brother to look up to now. I have my defensive line brothers here with the Bears that have helped me through this and made me feel better, but it’s a sad feeling.”

Hill’s memory will inspire Collins, who returned to his friend’s home a few days after Hill’s death to visit Hill’s mother and grandmother.

“I just have to be strong because I have some big shoes to fill,” Collins said. “I broke down in tears when I went into the weight room at his house where we used to work out. I can remember him giving me guidance about what I need to know to get prepared for the NFL.

“His mom told me that Marquise was very proud of me. She told me, ‘You go [to Chicago] and do what you have to do and make Marquise proud because surely he’s looking down at you.”