1st Half - Anthems - Zach Collaros 8
His jaw clenched and even as he tried to choose his words carefully, the emotion and passion Zach Collaros displayed Tuesday afternoon was still crystal clear.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback – like so many across the Canadian Football League – delivered some candid comments about the low tackle Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman Garrett Marino delivered on Ottawa RedBlacks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli last Friday.
That hit, some comments he made about Masoli’s heritage and Marino’s antics as he left the field after being ejected from the game were all factors in the four game suspension handed down by the CFL on Monday.
“One, I love Jeremiah,” began Collaros in his media session on Tuesday. “He was a teammate of mine for quite a while. He’s somebody I have a great deal of respect for, not only as a player, but as a person, a father, a husband… I learned a lot from him in my time being around him.
“For something as dirty as that to happen and for him to miss games I think is ridiculous and embarrassing for the league. I’m not happy about it, obviously.”
It was reported on the weekend that Masoli’s suffered an ACL injury which won’t require reconstructive surgery but will keep him out 10-12 weeks. The RedBlacks completed a trade with the Edmonton Elks on Monday, landing quarterback Nick Arbuckle as a possible replacement for Masoli.
Marino’s suspension was broken into three parts, as he was fined two games for the low hit on Masoli and his celebration, one game for the comments about Masoli’s heritage and another for his ‘illegal and reckless tackle’ of Ottawa O-lineman Dino Boyd on another play in the game. Marino and some Roughriders were clearly upset with Boyd’s late hit on defensive lineman Pete Robertson that will cause him to miss up to five weeks with an ankle injury.
“The punishment? I don’t know. I think it was weird how it was all broken up,” said Collaros. “I do think that since I’ve been up here that maybe nothing as blatant or as dirty as that has occurred, but there have been quite a few. When you suspend somebody or dish out any kind of punishment and then your own union comes and defends that person… as the quarterbacks it’s kind of a weird spot for us, especially this season after being asked to lead the charge in the strike (during training camp).
“So, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I also think as a partner the network (TSN) would say to the league, ‘Hey, I need Jeremiah Masoli on the field. He’s one of the best players in the league, the most exciting.’ I think maybe TSN would then say to the league, ‘Can we get rid of this stuff once and for all?’”
Collaros conceded that football is a violent game and that is also part of what has drawn him to the sport. He also pointed out that the NFL has effectively worked to eliminate a lot of these injuries, especially to quarterbacks.
“These things happen from time to time, probably more frequently than people realize,” said Collaros. “Again, whatever the fine is, it’s just going to get appealed, (Marino’s) going to play and probably not going to have to pay the fine. So, what’s the consequence? What’s going to stop it from happening?”
Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea also spoke on the Marino hit and fine on Tuesday. And although he said he didn’t have an opinion on the length of Marino’s fine, he did have a take on the attention the whole affair has received.
“My one opinion is you’ve got two really good football teams that were undefeated that played a game (the Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions) and you’ve got two more undefeated teams coming up (Winnipeg and the Calgary Stampeders) that are about to play a game and we’re wasting all our time talking about this stuff.
“It looks terrible for the league. You’d hope we’d be talking about football and not that crap.”
Asked with whom the responsibility lies to help eliminate situations like this, O’Shea added: “Everybody. Coaches, players, the league, the PA (CFL Players’ Association) … it’s on all of us.
“If we want this league to do well, we’ve got to make sure the product is a great product. When stuff like that happens, it destroys the product all around. It’s bad for the viewing audience, it’s bad in-stadium, it’s bad for the RedBlacks – really bad for the RedBlacks.”
SALUTED:
Collaros and receiver Dalton Schoen were named CFL Top Performers for their work in Saturday’s 43-22 win over the B.C. Lions. Collaros finished the night completing 23-of-30 passes for 288 yards with two TD strikes to Schoen and a third to Greg Ellingson.
Schoen recorded career-high catches (eight) and yards (117) in a two-touchdown performance. Saturday also marked Schoen’s first 100-yard game of his pro career.
SETTLING IN:
We told you recently of how much the Blue Bombers coaching staff is intrigued by Greg McCrae’s skillset and he took a further step in last Saturday’s win over B.C. as he rushed three times for 27 yards and pulled in another three receptions for 32 yards. Essentially, McCrae has become an American version of Nic Demski, currently on the six-game injured list.
“It’s just being wherever the team needs me to be,” said McCrae, who had former Blue Bombers linebacker Marcellus Bowman as one of his coaches at the University of Central Florida. “Whenever you need me to go somewhere and play a certain position, I just try to be there for it… Whenever they call my number, I’ve just got to show up and do what I have to do.”
McCrae has made a quick impression since his arrival for training camp. And vice-versa, it would seem.
“I love it here,” he said. “From the coaching staff to the players is a real family environment here. They really care about you; they really want to see you do well here. They speak of words of wisdom and empowerment into you and that’s really rare and it’s good to have that, especially coming from the head man down. When you surround younger players like me and the whole the team with love and a family environment like that it helps you play for the guys next to you.”
NEW BLUE BLOOD:
The Blue Bombers added two players to the practice roster on Tuesday – American linebacker Brian Cole, who was most recently with the Edmonton Elks and was a seventh-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2020 and Winnipeg Rifles receiver Luke McMillan, who had an outstanding training camp before being released last month.
