Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
Zach Collaros enjoyed his first experience as a broadcast analyst for TSN during the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg.
“I got a phone call one day, and it was an offer to do that. We didn’t make the Grey Cup for that season, obviously that was disappointing. I initially didn’t want to do it, I turned it down,” Collaros told 3DownNation.
“Then I sought some advice from people that I trust, they’re like, ‘Hey, you should do it. Nobody really knows you outside of playing football. Show your personality a little bit.‘ I’m usually pretty buttoned up with this kind of stuff.”
The Blue Bombers suffered a 42-33 loss to the Alouettes in the East Semi-Final on Saturday, November 1. Less than two weeks later, Collaros taped a segment from the Manitoba capital for SportsCentre on Friday night and provided analysis for the network’s Grey Cup coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
“I had a lot of fun. Being able to work with the CFL on TSN panel was great. I think the adrenaline of doing it live was really cool, still kind of be involved in the game a little bit, so to speak,” Collaros said.
“The preparation of it, preparing for the game is probably as close as you can get to going out and playing. The prep you put in the night before, then go out there and execute, it is awesome.”
The 37-year-old Collaros watched a lot of Saskatchewan and Montreal film to prepare for his broadcasts over Grey Cup weekend. However, the 13-year CFL veteran has not yet reviewed how he performed with a microphone in his hand in front of the camera.
“I didn’t want to watch myself. I cringe when I watch myself speak or do anything, really. I just don’t love it. I let my wife watch and critique. She’s always going to say I did well. Come on, my wife loves me,” Collaros said.
After his professional football playing days are done, Collaros wants to stay involved in the game in some capacity. His body feels good, and he’s year-to-year from a playing standpoint. Being able to experience what it’s like to be a broadcaster opened another possible avenue for him to explore once retired.
“We’ll see. It’d be hard to get away from the competitive side of it, whether it’s coaching or front office stuff, whatever that looks like. But the CFL on TSN stuff was a lot of fun, it really was. It definitely opened my eyes a little bit, ‘Hey, maybe this is something that I could chase at some point,’” Collaros said.
The three-time Grey Cup champion believes coaching would be the closest one can get to being on the field, which is really attractive to him. However, he finds himself learning more about the personnel and team-building side of football.
“I found myself reading more and more about that side of it, when I read about the NFL or the CFL, more of it than the coaching and strategy,” Collaros said.
“I feel like I’ve exhausted that over 10 years of reading about the strategy of football. Now, I enjoy reading about how the Seahawks were put together and that GM [John Schneider] having two different Super Bowl teams. That kind of stuff, it’s really cool to me.”
Similar to his CFL career, it’s easy to envision Collaros excelling at whatever he chooses to do post-playing football.
