WINNING IT ALL — Zach Collaros, a Big Red graduate, celebrates winning the Grey Cup on Nov. 24. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 33-12. -Contributed

A huge sigh of relief could be heard from anywhere in Steubenville after news broke a few weeks back that high school sports would be played in Ohio this year despite the coronavirus pandemic still sweeping across the world.

If one listened closely, he or she could feel the relief all the way up to Aurora, Ontario, Canada, a town in central York Region in the greater Toronto area.

That came from Zach Collaros, the former Big Red signal caller who now works as quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. One of the first things he did was check Steubenville’s schedule for 2020 and had to look twice. He couldn’t believe his old team is traveling four times, especially with a six-game schedule.

“I believe we haven’t had this many road games in a long time. It’s awesome, man,” he said laughing. “I have to call coach (Reno) Saccoccia and bust him about that.”

All joking aside, Collaros knows what sports, namely football, means to the Steubenville community. He lived it when he went 30-0 as the starting quarterback and won back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006.

“I’m really excited for it. I have a couple of cousins in another area that are going to play,” Collaros said. “I know everybody’s been dreading for the worst. Luckily, it went in their favor. Unfortunately it’s kind of become a political thing, and I’m not a political person, but I think we need to play sports. We need to interact together. It’s a very important development.

“Personally, sports has been everything for me in my life besides my family. Every person I’ve met has been through a sport. It gives those kids something to look forward to. It teaches you important lessons about leadership, character and teamwork. I breathed a sigh of relief for those kids when the news came out. I can’t imagine being a senior in high school and having the governor tell me I can’t play.”

Collaros added that he knows Big Red will take care of everything and follow every protocol and guideline to the best of its ability.

“Adults have to be adults in these situations and make sure the protocols are followed,” he said. “There is pressure put on middle school and high school kids to follow the protocols. But, it is what it is at the moment.

“I can only speak for Big Red, but it’s a great group of people. I know that they’ll make sure they’ll follow the protocols because everybody wants to do what is right for the kids.”

Although Big Red and Ohio high school football in general is in full swing, the same cannot be said for Collaros. He is unable to be the Blue Bombers’ quarterback because the Canadien Football League canceled its season in mid-August due to COVID-19.

All Collaros can do for the time being is wait and see how things will transpire as the year continues.

“It was tough when we heard the news about it. It finalized what the worst case scenario was,” he said. “That coming to a halt definitely hurts. Prior to that, I just tried to keep myself in shape. Our gyms are closed up here, so I’ve been doing a lot out of my garage. I’ve been throwing the football a lot at the back of a soccer net or through a field goal post. I just tried to stay ready for the season. I wasn’t too surprised when I heard the CFL went in this direction.

“I think just like anybody else, I’m just trying to get adjusted to the precautions we have to take every day. I’m not special by any means. Everybody has to adjust and make the best of it.”

If there is a positive that can come out of the pandemic, it is that Collaros and his wife, Nicole, welcomed their first child, daughter Sierra, shortly after COVID-19 took over earlier this year. Collaros, at the very least, has the time to be a father.

Another negative, however, is being quarantined in Canada. There will be no trips to Ohio any time soon.

“I haven’t been (traveling), and that’s been the hardest part,” Collaros said. “Luckily, my mother was able to cross through here about a couple of months ago. She had to quarantine for 14 days, but she was able to so at my house. It was nice for her to come up and meet her granddaughter. That made everything a lot better for a couple of weeks.

“We’re definitely missing home. We can’t wait to get back to Steubenville. We also have family in Columbus and Cleveland.”

As for the future of the CFL, that is up in the air. Nobody, including Collaros, knows what exactly will happen to the league. Money has been a big issue, including players getting paychecks. Collaros signed a contract extension with Winnipeg in late January that could total nearly $1 million.

When it was announced that the Toronto Blue Jays would play their home games in Buffalo this year, that did not help matters.

“That stuff is still up in the air. There may be some government funding. The association and our league are dealing with those matters,” Collaros said. “I know a lot of guys are hurting right now without getting paid.”

This year marks the first time since 1919 that the Grey Cup will not be presented, a championship trophy that belongs to Collaros and the Blue Bombers. Winnipeg defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 33-12, on Nov. 24, and Collaros was the starting quarterback for that game.

Collaros, the son of Dean and Shelly, is a former player for the Tiger-Cats, suiting up for them from 2014-17. The two previous seasons were his first in the CFL with Toronto. In 2018, Collaros started 14 games for Saskatchewan.

Then, 2019 came, a crazy year that Collaros will not soon forget. He started one game for Saskatchewan and was sidelined with a concussion. He was later traded back to Toronto on July 31, 2019, but did not appear in a game.

On Oct. 9, CFL’s trading deadline, Collaros was dealt to Winnipeg after starter Matt Nichols was lost for the season and their other QB lost four of five games. Collaros’ lone regular season start was in the finale, which the Blue Bombers won. That moment carried the team to the championship victory.

“From talking to people on the players’ side, I think they exhausted everything,” Collaros said. “They went down the avenue of looking at every option that they had. Talking with a couple of people that are really close with the situation, everybody thought there was going to be a season. I think it came down to federal backing, and we didn’t get it. It is what it is.”

In his CFL career, the former University of Cincinnati quarterback has played in 92 games and started 67. He has completed 1,383 passes for 16,979 yards and 92 touchdowns. He also has eight rushing scores. He went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft, though he later signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Last season was Collaros’ second Grey Cup. He also was part of Toronto’s championship in his rookie year of 2012. Collaros played in four games off the bench.

“Things are slowly picking back up now. Eating at restaurants are at 50 percent capacity. That’s something that was reintroduced here about a month or so ago,” Collaros said. “It varies from place to place, county to county. I think here they’re a little conservative with opening back up.

“It’s been tough and frustrating at times but, again, we’re just trying to do best with it.”