Zach Collaros

Zachary J. Collaros (born August 27, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a three-time Grey Cup champion after winning as a backup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2012, and twice as a starter with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021. He was the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in the 2021 game and was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2021 and 2022. He is also a three-time Divisional All-Star and two-time CFL All-Star. Collaros played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats, and has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Collaros graduated from Steubenville (Ohio) High School in 2007, after leading the Big Red to Division III state titles in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, ending with an undefeated 30–0 record as a starter.

Collaros was one of five quarterbacks to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats during the 2008 season. After Tony Pike was injured in the Akron game, Collaros took his first snap as college quarterback halfway through the fourth quarter. On the season, he had one completion on four attempts for a total of two yards. He also rushed six times for a total of 29 yards.

When Pike was injured midway through the 2009 season, during a game against South Florida, Collaros again took over; on his third snap, he ran for a key 75-yard touchdown. He went on to start the next four games while Pike recovered from a broken arm. During week 10, Collaros won Big East Offensive Player of the Week, after racking up a Big East record 555 yards of total offense (480 passing, 75 rushing) and accounting for three touchdowns (one passing, two rushing) in a 48–45 win over Connecticut. In four starts, the second half of the USF game, and several "cameo appearances," Collaros racked up relatively big numbers (1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns passing, 344 yards and 4 touchdowns rushing).

Collaros was Cincinnati's starting quarterback for the 2010 season. He led the Big East in passing yards with 2,902 and touchdowns with 26. He was selected as the 2010 first-team All-Big East quarterback.

Collaros was again named the starting quarterback for the 2011 season, his second full year as the starter.

Collaros signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after going undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft but did not make the team.

Collaros signed a contract to play for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in June 2012. He played in one game during the 2012 CFL season, completing seven of 11 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. In the first preseason game of the 2013 CFL season he completed nine of 12 passes for 95 yards and one touchdown. On July 30, he had his first CFL start in place of the injured Ricky Ray, as the Argonauts defeated the B.C. Lions at the Rogers Centre. He threw for three touchdowns and completed 21 of 25 passes for 253 yards. Collaros had an outstanding 2013 season. He played in 14 games that season and was the starting quarterback for eight games, due to an injury to Ricky Ray. He completed 190 of 287 pass attempts at a strong completion percentage of 66.2%. He threw for 2,316 yards, 14 touchdowns and only six interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 98.4. He was not selected by the Ottawa Redblacks in the 2013 CFL Expansion Draft because he was set to become a free agent in February 2014. The Redblacks did not want to risk their selections on players who may not re-sign with their new team. Collaros was set to become a free-agent in February 2014 if a contract extension could not be agreed upon by the Argos. Upon understanding that Collaros would not re-sign with the Argos and would instead test the free-agent market, Argos general manager Jim Barker decided to release Collaros prior to the start of free agency. After failing to come to terms on a new contract, the Argonauts released Collaros on January 29, 2014.