{"id":125712,"date":"2025-09-07T03:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/125712\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T03:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:46:09","slug":"zach-collaros-should-never-play-football-again-milt-stegall-calls-for-bombers-qb-to-retire-after-banjo-bowl-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/125712\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Zach Collaros should never play football again’: Milt Stegall calls for Bombers’ QB to retire after Banjo Bowl exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Graphic: 3DownNation (Photos: Reuben Polansky | Bob Butrym)<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 most iconic alumnus believes the franchise\u2019s starting quarterback needs to hang up the cleats for his own safety.<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame receiver Milt Stegall took that stance on the CFL on TSN panel after Zach Collaros was knocked from the Banjo Bowl after taking a blow to the head on a blitz by Saskatchewan\u2019s C.J. Reavis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as Zach goes, I\u2019m going to look at it from a standpoint of if that was my son, he wouldn\u2019t step on the field again,\u201d Stegall said. \u201cHe\u2019s retired, that\u2019s it. He\u2019s never playing another down of football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaros remained down on the field for some time after taking the hit mid-way through the third quarter, which was penalized as roughing the passer after Winnipeg challenged the play. He eventually jogged to the locker room but did not return to the sideline for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n

The incident marked the third time Collaros has been forced to leave a game this season with an injury. The 37-year-old was unable to finish consecutive losses to Calgary and Toronto earlier this season, and was forced to sit out in Week 9 in order to recover.<\/p>\n

The veteran quarterback\u2019s documented history of concussions led to speculation he had suffered another head injury on both of those occasions, though the Bombers remained adamant the nagging injury was actually to his neck. The team has not yet disclosed the nature of this injury, but Stegall was clear about his own assumptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m basing this on that we\u2019re thinking he suffered a concussion. It hasn\u2019t been disclosed what he suffered; I\u2019m basing it on he\u2019s suffering a concussion. Zach Collaros should not step on the field again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the medical staff in Winnipeg, they do a great job. If he\u2019s medically cleared, they\u2019re doing the right thing, I know that. But then I\u2019m looking at it if I\u2019m one of those board members, or I\u2019m an executive with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, would I want my son to step back on the field again? That\u2019s the way I would look at it. 100 percent, Zach Collaros should never play football again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaros might never have become a Bomber if not for a concussion suffered in the 2019 season opener while playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. At that time, there was speculation his career could be over, but he resurrected himself with two Grey Cup victories and a pair of Most Outstanding Player awards in the Manitoba capital.<\/p>\n

After accomplishing all that, Stegall\u2019s fellow panellist, Henoc Muamba, believes Collaros needs to re-evaluate his priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a history. There\u2019s no question about his past and what he\u2019s done, and the impact that he\u2019s had on a lot of players and teams that he\u2019s played on. The fact that he was able to come to Winnipeg and resurrect his career is amazing. That was a tough hit, obviously, that he took there, and it\u2019s definitely a cause for concern for him,\u201d he said. \u201cBeyond the game of football, you\u2019ve got to start to think about: \u2018What is life after? What is life off of the field really going to be like?\u2019 You never want to think about it too soon, but at some point or another, you have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both analysts expressed the same level of concern for Collaros, but were also in alignment when it came to Reavis\u2019 intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hit, was it dirty? Not one bit. Was it illegal? It was illegal,\u201d Stegall said. \u201cYou can\u2019t hit the quarterback or anybody in the helmet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaros\u2019 status will remain a hot topic of conversation heading into Week 15, as Winnipeg looks to rebound from Saturday\u2019s 21-13 loss. The Blue Bombers (6-6) visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-5) on Friday, September 12 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Graphic: 3DownNation (Photos: Reuben Polansky | Bob Butrym) The Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 most iconic alumnus believes the franchise\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-125712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}