In My Words: Zach Collaros

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Let me open with a confession-slash-admission: I’ve been thinking about what I would do if I didn’t have football probably since I was 21. Actually, check that, since I was 18 and the days when I never even thought I would get a football scholarship.

Even after that I never thought about playing after college. Then I got an opportunity in mini camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in ’12 and when I got cut, I thought, ‘OK, I’ll go be a coach now.’  But then I got a phone call from the Argos to come up here and the rest, as they say, is history.

Coming to the CFL has been the best thing that ever happened to me – not just career-wise, but I met my wife and had my children after I came to Canada.

It’s been amazing.

All of this plays a part in why we’ve signed a contract extension, because that thought – the ‘what am I going to do next?’ or the wondering of what I’m going to do when they decide I’m not good enough to play anymore – has always been in the back of my mind. It’s something I’ve thought about more and talked to other people about. Transitioning into another career at the age I’m at is, frankly, scary.

All of this comes down to one thing: I still love this game.

I just love coming to work here. They flew me out here about three weeks before camp started and just being back in the building and being around the guys all I could think was, ‘Man, it’s so good to be back.’  Those feelings reaffirmed my belief that this is where I’m supposed to be.

My body has felt as good over the last five years as it has in my entire career. I know I’m getting older, but I still love every bit of the process of it – I love the grinding, the tape, I love trying to help make a game plan, the Xs and Os chess-pieces of it all. Playing the position of quarterback, you get the ball in your hands, and I just don’t want to give that up yet.

Plus, I love this organization. I’ve said it many times how much this organization means to me from top to bottom. I’ve got really, really close friends in this building and in that locker room and we all believe we can still play at a high level and still play for Grey Cups every year. So, to add another year to that – it’s just something we wanted to get done.

It’s funny how this all works sometimes, like how I ended up here just before the trade deadline closed in 2019. It’s like that sliding-door theory; how if you walk through one door and not the other, the impact that decision has on your future.

It’s not just about how well it’s gone for us and all the wins. It’s more about the relationships I’ve made. I have good friends from my days in Hamilton. I wasn’t in Sask long but have good friends I talk to there. And from my first time in Toronto, too. I consider some of those guys here my best friends. It’s been amazing career-wise, but I’ve made so many lifelong friends here.

Being able to bring our kids into this has been a blessing. It really has. They love coming out to Winnipeg. They love football season. They love the routine that they do with my wife on a daily basis when I’m here working. They have their Winnipeg friends and can’t wait to get back out here. A lot of guys have kids now and when the kids run out on the field it’s the best part of their day.

As I’ve gotten older, I find I’m able now to recognize and enjoy the moments more. All the moments. My wife and I talk about this all the time with the kids if we’re having a hard day. It’s not going to be like this for long when they want to crawl into our bed.

Applying that to football… I think about it all the time. Sometimes I’ll say to the young guys in camp, ‘You just don’t know how many opportunities you may have.’ That’s what’s special about this game – we get 18 games, 18 opportunities to go out and prove what kind of player you are, what kind of team we are.

I think about how I still get to play a kid’s game and how they’re paying me money to play a game. I’ve felt that way for a long time. As you get older and you start thinking about the finish line… I’m a worrier, by nature, and have thought about down the line how am I going to feed my family. But that’s also helped me to be in the moment more, to live in the present.

Ultimately, I still have that hunger to compete. Most of all, I still cherish those moments in the locker room so much. You want to be as good a friend and teammate as possible and build those relationships because that’s what matters at the end of your life. You can make all the money you want but it has to be about the relationships you’ve made. And I’ve made a ton here.

Every bit of it has been so special. Let’s keep this rolling.