Inside the CFL: Collaros had a tough go with Riders

By Graham Kelly on August 6, 2019.

Ever since backup quarterback Cody Farjado started and performed well, Saskatchewan management was under intense pressure from the media to assure the public that Zach Collaros would not be coming back. Cries for his concussed head usually were couched in concerns for his health, which might be true in part. But the major motivation of media and fans alike was winning: Healthy or not, they didn’t want Collaros back.

You have to feel sorry for the guy. A class act in every respect, Zach and his family had to read and hear every day that he was through, that he wasn’t wanted.

Saskatchewan fans have always been hard on quarterbacks. They even booed Ron Lancaster during his final appearance as a player at Taylor Field. In 1951, Regina was named Dobberville after Glen Dobbs who took them to the Grey Cup where they lost to Ottawa 21-14. The next year he was a bum and fans demanded former Notre Dame star Frank Tripuka take over. Soon they wanted his backup Larry Isbell or whoever happened to be available. I worked for the Riders then and knew Tripuka, a kind and sensitive man, was deeply hurt by the treatment he received.

The fans booed Kent Austin out of Regina and were hard on Henry Burris. Over the years it doesn’t seem to have mattered who the starting quarterback was, No. 2 was the favourite. Only the late Joe Faragalli seemed to figure it out, in 1981, alternating John Hufnagel and Joe Barnes. The two became fan favourites as J.J. Barnagel. They missed the playoffs on the last game of the season. The following year Papa Joe acceded to Barnes’ request for a trade. The Riders finished 2-14 and he was fired.

You can be sure if and when Fajardo falters, the fans will demand head coach Craig Dickenson start back-up Isaac Harker.

Argo general manager Jim Popp had Fajardo backing up Ricky Ray in Toronto for two years. Last season Wally Buono had him behind Travis Lulay and Jonathon Jennings. Neither Popp nor Buono saw much potential in him. The same can be said of Saskatchewan where GM Jeremy O’Day only signed him to a one-year deal to play second fiddle to Collaros.

The Rider brain trust will claim trading Collaros to Toronto for a fourth-round draft choice was a football decision. After all, Fajardo led the team to three straight wins and added another in last Friday’s thrilling victory over Hamilton. (Hatter Connor McGough got some D-line time and on one play treated Rider running back William Powell like a rag doll). There are two cities in the country where the fans and media can run a guy out of town: Montreal with Les Habs and Regina. So, Zach Collaros is gone. I agree the Riders were between a rock and a hard place and had no choice.

Popp was a genius when he was the GM in Montreal. After quarterback Anthony Calvillo retired, his IQ went down 50 points. No one knows better that you have to have an all-star calibre quarterback to win. With his team 0-6, Popp had to do something. He really has no idea how the Collaros deal will pan out but what does he have to lose? Just a fourth-round draft pick next year.

The Argos are on a bye week. Collaros could learn the offence over the following fortnight and be ready to go Aug. 18 versus Edmonton. But then his beleaguered erstwhile back-up, the man with three last names, McLeod Bethel-Thompson rallied his team from a 20-point deficit to beat Winnipeg 28-27. Now what does the Boatmen brain trust do?

If anyone in Toronto actually cared, they might have a quarterback controversy on their hands. (Quarterback? Quarterback? We don’t make change). Surely head coach Cory Chamblin owes Bethel-Thompson the next start. What should be a new dawning for Collaros may turn out to be a continuation of the nightmare. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire!

Given his history of concussions, should he retire? Only he can answer that. Collaros should talk to concussion victims Matt Dunigan and Jon Cornish about the wisdom of continuing to play.