Bombers pivot motivated despite suspension

Time has yet to heal this wound for Zach Collaros.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ star quarterback had quietly stewed for more than two months before news broke that the Canadian Football League was suspending him for one game for failing to respond to Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) officials seeking an off-season drug test.

When Collaros finally broke his silence Wednesday it was clear that, while still incredibly frustrated by the way things unfolded, he wasn’t worried about whether this scar will eventually fade from his mind, but whether it would stain a legacy that’s been built on honesty and always doing things “the right way.”

“It’s something that we’ve been talking about now for a while. I’m looking forward to moving forward with it, but I’m obviously not happy about it — at all,” Collaros said after the opening day of Bombers’ rookie camp.

The penalty given to the league’s two-time Most Outstanding Player originates from Feb. 4, when a phone call and an email from a CCES official trying to set a date for a drug test both went unanswered. It wasn’t until a week later, when speaking with a friend from the CFL players association, that Collaros learned someone had tried to contact him.

The caller appeared on his phone as an unknown number, which he never answers. Meanwhile, Collaros is notorious for never checking his email.

On Feb. 28, after a second call went unanswered, he received an email informing him that he had been suspended.

“The last two months have been very frustrating, as well as — agonizing is the wrong word — but just trying to think of what the right thing is to do here,” said Collaros, who tried reasoning with the league that it was an honest mistake that led to an unfortunate situation. “Do we go to arbitrations? Do we accept the one game from a reputation standpoint?

“And, more so, loving the game of football and all it’s given me, and having always done it the right way, to be even associated with a suspension like this, even though it’s not for a failed test, there’s a lot of kids… they looked up to me when I was back home and in college and here, as well.

“You do it the right way. You don’t want people, especially children, to think that you do it the wrong way. So that was the hard part for me to swallow about the whole thing.”

Collaros’s suspension was originally two games, the standard for a first-time offender who either tests positive for a banned substance or refuses to provide a sample, but was reduced after the league acknowledged flaws in its communication.

There was no attempt from the CCES official to contact the Bombers after failing to reach Collaros, which he learned is protocol in other professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball. He maintains that he would’ve responded to a Bombers staff member who tried calling him.

That’s the especially frustrating part for head coach Mike O’Shea.

“As usual, you know where my thoughts go, I’m sure I’ve said it enough, it’s concern for Zach and making sure he’s okay,” said O’Shea, who was adamant that Collaros should bear no fault in the situation.

“I think, to a man, everybody on the team is at some point probably going to feel a little pissed off at what’s happening to him, right? And everybody’s gonna have his back. So, I mean, this is the cards we’re dealt and we just move forward.”

In a press release from the CFL announcing Collaros’s suspension, it was stated that the CFL and the CFLPA have agreed to enhance contact protocols for off-season testing of players.

“I think in any business, in any system, where there’s a gap in the process, everybody gets frustrated with that,” O’Shea said. “They’ve agreed to fix it, and I’m sure it will be fixed.”

Collaros couldn’t put an exact number on it, but estimated he’s been drug tested anywhere from seven to 10 times in his 14-year career, usually after a game or a practice. He’s never tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

“I’m a big believer that you’re in control of your own destiny, so I take responsibility for it. It’s my life, right? I would hate to preach it to my kids every day, to take accountability for things (and not back it up), so I’m taking accountability for that. However, the acknowledgement of a flawed method of getting in contact, and then they’re gonna go and change it, that doesn’t sit right with me,” he said.

“Through this process, as we were trying to find ways to resolve this and not have it come out publicly, not have there be a suspension, I said, ‘Hey, I’ll play the first game. You don’t have to pay me. Fine me. You can change the rule and I won’t say boo,’ but somebody was pretty adamant about moving forward with this.”

The Bombers have a Week 1 bye, so Collaros will serve his suspension when the club hosts the B.C. Lions on Thursday, June 12. O’Shea confirmed backup quarterback Chris Streveler will be ready to go for the season-opening contest, despite being eight months removed from a major knee injury that required surgery.

Missing the first two weeks of the season has forced Collaros to approach training camp with the big picture in mind, rather than gearing up for a game that’s a little more than a month away, but he’s confident that he’ll be able to push this aside and re-focus.

“I believe so. I mean, we got a great organization here that’s been in my corner since the news was levied, at least internally. Great teammates, a real fun group here, a lot of young guys to teach the Bomber way, right? So that’s exciting,” he said.

“But, yeah, motivated. Very motivated.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca