‘I got cut the next day’

Zach Collaros was thrown to the wolves in his first career pre-season game.

It was back in 2012 when the University of Cincinnati product was trying to break into the three-down league with the Toronto Argonauts.

He had only been around for one practice and received just one measly rep, and yet, then head coach Scott Milanovich tapped him on the shoulder and told him he was going into the game — a matchup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the old Ivor Wynne Stadium — in the fourth quarter.

“It’s amazing these kids get all these reps now,” said the Blue Bombers quarterback with a grin earlier this week.

“And I think I threw a touchdown and ran for a touchdown. I had such low expectations of anything. I was like, ‘The worst thing that could happen is I get to go home.’”

The Bombers will play their pre-season opener on Saturday in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6 p.m.).

While football at this time of year has no bearing on the standings and can often be a drag to watch, it can also be a culmination of a lifelong dream coming true — especially for up-and-coming Canadians.

“I think back on that time fondly and it was a huge deal,” said veteran guard Patrick Neufeld, a Regina native who started his CFL journey in 2010 with his hometown Riders.

In Neufeld’s case, he was a bit too excited for the moment.

“Yeah, my first play I got an unnecessary roughness (penalty). My very first play,” Neufeld said.

“I was just fired up to play my first professional game in the building I grew up going to games, and I just had a little too much fire and hit the guy late. It was kind of just laughed off, but obviously, I was told on the sideline, ‘You can’t do that kind of thing.’”

That first outing as a pro can also be a harsh reminder that there’s still a lot of work to be done — just ask kicker Sergio Castillo.

Before taking his talents up north, Castillo was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2014. The Falcons happened to already have one of the best kickers in the NFL at that time: Matt Bryant.

“Matt Bryant was one of my favourite kickers. And we were walking through the tunnel to enter the stadium — we were playing in Atlanta at the old stadium against the Dolphins — and Matt Bryant was a couple feet ahead of me. He goes in, then security stops me and is like, ‘Hey, this is only for players.’ And I had my badge and everything. And Matt Bryant was like, ‘He’s a player, let him in,’” recalled Castillo.

Castillo quickly shrugged off the encounter and drilled both of his field goal attempts — although, it didn’t end up making a difference.

“I got cut the next day,” laughed Castillo. “And I was so excited because we were playing Houston the following week and I’m from Texas and the whole family was gonna go, but a linebacker got hurt, they needed someone to come and replace him, and I was the odd man out.

“That’s when I got introduced to the business side of things.”

Defensive end Willie Jefferson got to experience the NFL in Houston as he was picked up by the Texans in 2013 out of Stephen F. Austin. In that first pre-season game, he came oh-so-close to taking down a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

“I almost had a sack on Drew Brees. I was with the starters, so I had a chance to go against the starters on the Saints,” said Jefferson. “On a pass rush, I was able to beat the offensive tackle around the edge, and I tried to knock the ball out of Drew Brees’s hand, but he (tucked the ball in).”

Similar to Neufeld, running back Brady Oliveira had the pleasure of making his pre-season debut in his own backyard. Long before he was the face of the franchise, he was an intriguing prospect out of the University of North Dakota who was trying to reacclimate to the Canadian game.

“I remember running through the tunnel and looking around going, ‘Wow, this is a pre-season game, there’s quite a few fans here, and what a special opportunity that I have right now,’” said Oliveira, who helped the Bombers beat Edmonton 20-3 in front of nearly 20,000 spectators.

“And then, it was starting to see, ‘OK, am I actually built for this? Like, can I actually do this?’ And I got some reps at running back, and I think that game, my longest rush was 15 yards, so it was pretty good.”

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Collaros, Neufeld, Castillo, Jefferson and Oliveira can all sleep just fine and know they’re going to be on the roster in Week 1. For the youngsters, and those on the bubble, a few snaps could ultimately decide whether they’ll be kept or if they need to start looking for a 9-5.

“The game is never going to be perfect. You just got to stack the positives and hope they outweigh the negatives,” said Jefferson. “Just be where you’re supposed to be, overcommunicate to show the coaches and the people watching film you know what you’re doing and you’re passionate about what you’re doing, and then, hopefully, you make the team.

“And if not, hopefully another team sees you and wants you and you go somewhere else.”

Thorne bows out of QB battle

There will be one less quarterback to evaluate on Saturday.

Rookie quarterback Payton Thorne sat down with head coach Mike O’Shea on Thursday to inform him he’s leaving the team.

Thorne, a passer out of Michigan State/Auburn who spent some time with the Cincinnati Bengals last year, was currently battling it out with Taylor Elgersma, Terry Wilson and Bryce Perkins for the No. 2- and 3 jobs behind Collaros.

The club has transferred him to the suspended list.

“He’s not afraid of competition or anything like that. It’s hard to tell (where he ranked in the competition). We were going to play everybody and see where it all shakes out,” said O’Shea on Thursday.

“You’re disappointed because you want to run an organization where nobody ever leaves. They all want to stay all the time. But I also am genuinely excited if somebody has things figured out enough that this is the decision they make, because it’s not an easy decision.”

Thorne attended Wednesday’s training camp session but did not participate in any drills.

“He’s a great kid,” said O’Shea. “He’s really smart and I’m sure he’s got a future in football still. This is what he had to do.”

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