GREY CUP NOTEBOOK
HAMILTON – Zach Collaros is on a roll.
The veteran quarterback is 15-2 since becoming Winnipeg’s starter in 2019. He helped the Blue Bombers end a dismal Grey Cup drought that year and has them on the cusp of becoming the CFL’s first back-to-back champion since 2010.
And on Friday night, Collaros is expected to be named the league’s top performer. Heady stuff for a player whose career had been plagued by injuries and questions before being dealt to the Bombers in October 2019.
“When he walked in the building, he got right into the meeting,” Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said. “He knew how to approach his teammates in the meeting, he listened a lot as you knew he would.
“I’ll say I don’t think there was another guy that could come in and do that. I’m not sure there was another guy that could fit in that seamlessly and get it done.”
The six-foot, 219-pound Collaros was sent to Winnipeg by the Toronto Argonauts in October 2019 ahead of the CFL trade deadline. The Bombers became Collaros’s third team that year.
Winnipeg didn’t skip a beat when the CFL resumed play this August, posting a league-best 11-3 record. Collaros completed 243-of-346 passes (70.2 per cent) for 3,185 yards with a league-best 20 TDs and just six interceptions en route to being named the West Division’s outstanding player.
“I’ve been very lucky to play for a lot of great organizations, the one in this town (Hamilton) being really special.,” Collaros said. “I’d had have to say it (playing in Winnipeg) has been the best experience I’ve had so far, though.
“Obviously when you have success everything is hunky dory … but the organization has really provided us with everything we need day in and day out. It’s been an amazing experience, it’s an amazing community. Playing in front of that home crowd is really special and being able to meet people and talk outside of football has been awesome.”
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HAMILTON – While the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are staying at a local hotel, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are tucked into their own beds – if so desired.
The Ticats have allowed their players to stay at home until Friday, although some have already made the move.
Veteran offensive lineman Chris Van Zeyl has checked into the hotel, with his wife giving him the thumbs up.
“I’ve got two young kids at home. Plenty of stuff to do at all times. We both kind of said this (week) needs to be a full-time thing,” he said.
His children are “just about” one and three.
“One’s crawling already and the other one’s walking. And he’s a little bit of a maniac,” he said,
Van Zeyl said his wife will get her reward after the championship game.
“She’s going to go somewhere and spa or something after the Grey Cup,” he said.
Running back Sean Thomas Erlington opted to stay at home for as long as possible. “I am sleeping in my home bed until (Friday),” he said.
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WEATHER FORECAST: The weather is warming up for Grey Cup day after a week that started with snow and chilly temperatures.
The forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud in Hamilton on Sunday with a high of plus-four during the day and plus-two at night.
Kickoff at Tim Hortons Field is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
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PAPI MONIKER: Hamilton wide receiver Papi White’s first name is actually Sefuan (pronounced Sef-ON).
White said the nickname came in third grade when he was playing at a local school.
“My dad was on the sideline and he was always sayin ‘Papi, Papi this, Papi that,’ so everybody got used to it,” White explained.
White, who hails from Seminole, Okla., has Native American heritage – Chickasaw/Seminole/Creek.
His father Amari competed in football and track at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.
Papi White played 43 games from 2014 to 2018 at Ohio University, finishing as the program’s all-time leader in career receiving yards with 2,620. He pondered a career in sports journalism at least briefly.
“I was at first, until I realized I had to be in front of the camera,” White said.
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HOME FIELD: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have been very good at Tim Hortons Field.
The Ticats are 16-2 there (regular season and playoffs) over the 2019 and ’21 seasons. The CFL didn’t play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamilton hosts the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup on Sunday at Tim Hortons Field.
Winnipeg last won in Hamilton in 2017 and has dropped its last two road games versus the Ticats.
Hamilton was 5-2 at Tim Hortons Field this season while Winnipeg was 4-3 on the road.
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NEW FACES: Canadian Andrew Harris and Don Jackson will appear in the same game this season for the first time Sunday.
Neither Harris nor Jackson played in Winnipeg’s 19-6 season-opening victory over Hamilton. But both running backs will start for their respective teams in the Grey Cup game at Tim Hortons Field.
The Bombers and Ticats met just the one-time during the regular season.
Harris, a Winnipeg native, ran for 136 yards and a touchdown in the Bombers’ 21-17 home win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last weekend in the West Division final. It marked Harris’s second career playoff 100-yard rushing performance.
Jackson had a career-playoff high 95 rushing yards on 16 carries in Hamilton’s 27-19 East Division victory over the Toronto Argonauts.
(Canadian Press/Photo: CFL)
