Saskatchewan Roughriders’ general manager Jeremy O’Day is impressed with how Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ quarterback Zach Collaros recovered from the concussion he suffered in 2019.
“I don’t know if we were surprised that (Collaros) was able to go on, it certainly was something that factored into our decision of what we were going to do. You have to make those types of decisions based on past histories and there’s been other players in various sports that have had concussions before that have had to stop playing, but there’s also been some that haven’t had any more recurring problems after they’ve had some,” O’Day told the media in his postseason address.
“We don’t really have a crystal ball if he would get more concussions or whether he’d go on and play another five, ten years. We just didn’t have that information and at the time you have to make decisions based on the information you had and at that point we had a quarterback that was playing pretty well as well.”
Collaros was Saskatchewan’s starting quarterback in 2019, though he suffered a concussion in Week 1 against Hamilton. Cody Fajardo took over under centre and became the full-time starter, prompting the Riders to trade Collaros away during the season.
The 33-year-old has since won back-to-back Grey Cups with Winnipeg and was recently named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player after passing for 3,185 yards, twenty touchdowns, and six interceptions over 13 regular season games.
“Zach’s done a great job and he’s gotten an opportunity to continue playing and has bounced around to a couple teams and really has found his home in Winnipeg and has had success,” said O’Day.
“Zach’s always been a good football player, when he’s been able to play he’s played at a high level. Definitely wish our players the best and he’s been successful. He did it before and now he’s back to where he was before he had his injuries.”
The Riders have posted an excellent 22-10 regular season record since O’Day became the team’s permanent GM in January 2019, though they have yet to advance beyond the West Final. He said it was difficult to watch this year’s championship game because it was a reminder of how his team fell just short of reaching the CFL’s biggest contest.
“To be honest, whatever teams are in the Grey Cup at that time, I’m not super thrilled when I watch it. It’s actually hard to watch. Having been in the league for such a long time, I don’t want to say I’m bitter at anyone that wins a Grey Cup — congratulate those guys — but ultimately they just achieved something that we’re trying to achieve. I don’t know how much sweet there is to it.”
