No ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ once Coleman hits the field
Affable offensive lineman turns switch, lets out his aggression when game starts
REGINA Thaddeus Coleman is one of the most likable players in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ dressing room, but there might be a few people on the outside who don’t share that view.
Although the towering offensive tackle is considered a bit of a gentle giant, his opponents get to see a different side of Coleman — one that’s not quite so friendly and easygoing.
“I tell people, because I’m a Gemini, that’s when I release the other side of me,” chuckled Coleman, whose team is preparing for a first-place showdown on Friday with the host Calgary Stampeders.
“I’m real chill off the field — a quiet guy — but when I get on the field I’m literally trying to rip your head off. Guys know that. That’s why they don’t really get upset with me, because they know that’s just how I play.”
Perhaps their lack of rebuttal has something to do with the fact that Coleman is an absolute mountain of a man. He also loves working out in the gym, which might explain why he has been so durable during his time in Saskatchewan, missing just one game over the past four seasons.
“I don’t think he has an enemy in the room — maybe in other rooms, but definitely not ours,” said Riders guard Dakota Shepley. “When there’s a six-eight guy with arms like Arnold (Schwarzenegger) out there, he’s going to be pretty intimidating. But he really is a nice guy off the field and I respect the way he plays on the field.”
Coleman also has a fan in Riders offensive line coach Stephen Sorrells, who calls him a true technician due to his smarts and study habits.
“He’s a great dude,” Sorrells said. “I don’t think you’d have anybody in our locker-room in the three years I’ve been here that would have a bad thing to say about him. He’s a hard worker, high-character guy. He’s going to do his job and he’s not going to cause you any headaches. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Those sentiments also apply to Coleman’s on-field performance — albeit for different reasons.
“He flips that switch on game day,” Sorrells noted. “When he gets between these white lines, he’s not going to be so easygoing. He’s going to be physical, he’s going to try to finish plays. If he can put you on your butt, he’s going to try to put you on your butt.”
At age 34, Coleman is the elder statesman of the Riders’ offensive line. His veteran savvy helped him stonewall all-star defensive end Willie Jefferson — one of the front-runners for most outstanding defensive player — in Saturday’s 21-6 over Winnipeg.
Jefferson’s stat line? No sacks, no tackles, no forced fumbles.
Zeros across the board. “Whenever you can stop Willie, that’s a great accomplishment,” Coleman said. “I wouldn’t say it’s my best game or anything like that but it feels great when you stop one of the best pass rushers in the game. That’s really tough.” Coleman should know.
After all, he went head-to-head with Jefferson in practice for five seasons — three with Saskatchewan and two with the Edmonton Eskimos. That history adds another element to the matchup, not to mention their mutual respect.
“When it’s game time, we’re going to try to kill each other,” Coleman said. “But after that, we’re still cool. We’re still fiends. It’s great competition when you can play against a teammate that you won a Grey Cup with (in 2015). It’s all good fun.”
The oft-concussed, oft-traded Zach Collaros is now a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Any right-thinking person will wish him well in a new locale — while fearing that his presumed elevation to the active roster could prove to be a horrible mistake.
Collaros already had a concussion history when he joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders via a Jan. 3, 2018, trade with the Hamilton Tiger-cats.
The veteran quarterback sustained two additional concussions during the 2018 CFL season.
The 2019 campaign was just three plays old when Collaros was the victim of yet another head injury — courtesy of an illegal hit by Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence.
Collaros has not played a down since June 13 — a few hours before the Toronto Raptors clinched a landmark NBA championship.
The emergence of Cody Fajardo as a bona fide No. 1 quarterback made it especially easy for Roughriders general manager and vice-president of football operations Jeremy O’day to trade Collaros to Toronto on July 31 for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 CFL draft.
Mere minutes before the league’s trade deadline, Collaros was on the move once more. On Wednesday afternoon, Winnipeg obtained Collaros and a fifth-rounder from Toronto in return for a third-rounder. The latter pick will be upgraded to a first-rounder if Collaros, who can become a free agent in February, re-signs with Winnipeg.
The buzzer-beating transaction was necessitated by the Blue Bombers’ lack of depth, production and good fortune at football’s most crucial position.
In the absence of Matt Nichols, who is shelved for the season following shoulder surgery,
Chris Streveler has struggled to move the Winnipeg offence. Until Wednesday, untested Sean Mcguire was next in line.
Bombers general manager Kyle Walters had to do something to address the dearth of experience behind Streveler.
With Collaros having been cleared to play, Walters opted to roll the dice.
Collaros provides the requisite experience, while also becoming the most accomplished quarterback on the Blue Bombers roster.
On that basis, the deal is defensible. But the worst fears will not abate.
What if Collaros, who has been acquired as an insurance policy, returns to the field and suffers yet another injurious blow to the head?
What non-football consequences might there be if another concussion is added to a list that is already of excessive length?
Does anybody want this on their conscience?
This is written with the knowledge that football is an inherently violent sport.
Every possible measure could be enacted with player safety being paramount, but collisions are part of the game. Plus, quarterbacks are targeted by snorting behemoths every time a pass is attempted.
Most recently, there was the hit by Lawrence, who was handed a two-game suspension. But one does not have to sustain an illegal blow to end up being concussed.
Such a misfortune could have befallen someone who had never experienced a concussion.
It is a dangerous sport. Everyone involved is well aware of the considerable risks.
The risk would seem to be elevated, though, in the case of Collaros.
The rewards? Those should not be discounted, either.
Saskatchewan won 10 of the 14 games Collaros started last season, in which the Roughriders were dead last in the league in offensive touchdowns (25) and TD passes (11).
Dominant defensive play was the foundation of the Roughriders’ success in 2018, but Collaros still had his moments.
On Oct. 20, for example, Saskatchewan defeated the Calgary Stampeders — the eventual
Grey Cup champions — 29-24 at Mcmahon Stadium. Collaros enjoyed his finest game as a Roughrider, throwing for 352 yards.
Once the playoffs arrived, though, Collaros was again a bystander — the result of an illegal hit to the head in the regular-season finale.
With Brandon Bridge calling signals in place of Collaros, the Roughriders lost 23-18 to the visiting Blue Bombers in the West Division semifinal.
Bridge misfired on two passes that should have resulted in touchdowns by Naaman Roosevelt. Given those opportunities for six points, Collaros would have connected at least once and likely twice.
So there’s the upside for the Blue Bombers. By adding Collaros, Winnipeg now employs a quarterback who could provide a credible presence under centre in the playoffs.
Walters simply could not allow a once-promising season to slip away as a result of substandard quarterbacking. Hence the acquisition of Collaros.
The transaction — the league’s lone deadline deal — does create some intriguing possibilities.
Suppose that the Bombers end up visiting Saskatchewan for a post-season game. Suppose that Collaros, whose injury scuttled the Roughriders’ playoff hopes in 2018, finally receives an opportunity to compete in a post-season game at Mosaic Stadium.
Such a story would write itself. As someone who has weathered an inordinate amount of head injuries as a CFLER, Collaros richly deserves a healthy, happy ending to his playing career.
Nobody wants to sign off as the victim of a late hit.
In the same breath, nobody wants a repeat of June 13. As Collaros prepares to resume his playing career, the discomforting image of his most recent on-field appearance simply will not disappear.