Every football team’s worst nightmare is seeing its star quarterback go down. That is what happened to the Tiger-Cats last year when Zach Collaros got hurt. Collaros was on pace for a record setting season. He had thrown for 3378 yards in 2015 after playing only 11 and ¼ games, including 10 touchdown passes. By comparison, his 2014 season passing yards were 3,261. Collaros went down in the September 19th game against the Edmonton Eskimos.
When interviewed a couple of days after, Collaros states that he “never experienced anything like it” and “he knew something was wrong but didn’t know what.” An MRI revealed that Collaros had a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). When interviewed about it, he was asked, “Are you confident you will be back in time for training camp?” Collaros reponded, “I am.” Collaros underwent knee surgery in late October to repair the torn ACL.
On January 19th, 2016, it was reported that Collaros had stopped using the crutches and had been walking on his own strength for a week. In a press conference, Collaros said, “I feel great” and “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” but he also went on to stay that he was unsure if it’d be a stretch to aim for an early June return. Collaros was back in the weight room and he did have a full range of movement in his knee.
Since that point things have looked good for the Tiger-Cats. Collaros told TSN’s Matthew Scianitti that he “fully plans to take part in training camp and start the regular season at quarterback for the Ticats.” On February 25th, 2016, Scianitti tweeted that, “4 months after ACL surgery, Collaros feels stronger. Not running yet & unsure he’ll take part in OTAs, but confident he’ll be ready for TC #CFL”.
Collaros said in the interview, “I have the full range of motion, we’re strengthening it every day – right now we’re trying to get my quad the same size as the other quad.” He went on, “It’s just been great and I feel great. I can’t wait for the start of the season and I have a really good feeling that I’m gonna be ready to go.”
The start of the season is still some distance away, but things are looking great for the 2016 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. If Collaros is indeed ready to take the first snap of the year, will this be the year the Tiger-Cats bring the Cup back to the Hammer?
