Zach Collaros of the Blue Bombers blows out 36 candles, holds one in balance

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Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros hates it when everything revolves around him, but after Tuesday’s practice, that’s exactly what it was.

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As usual, his teammates gathered in the middle of the pitch and serenaded Collaros with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” at the end of his first training session as a 36-year-old.

“He hated it,” receiver Nic Demski said, chuckling. “He stuck out his middle fingers. He doesn’t like that kind of thing.”

That didn’t stop them. Not even close.

“This is fun,” said Jake Thomas.

When faced with a handful of media representatives, Collaros had softened his stance somewhat.

“It was a beautiful choir,” he said. “The older you get, the more grateful you are and understand that time is precious and all those things. I feel great.”

His appearance – at least on the field – is the subject of increasing debate, even as the Bombers have struggled to fight their way back into the compressed CFL West league.

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In particular, Collaros’ touchdown-interception ratio seems to come from a mirror: It should be 12:6 and not 6:12.

One (the bad one) has the most passing yards in the league, while the other (the good one) is so low that there are backup quarterbacks who have thrown just as many touchdown passes.

This is surprising considering that the man has always been one of the league’s top scorers, or at least close to it, in the past.

This is not surprising considering how many experienced players he has been missing throughout the year (Dalton Schoen, Kenny Lawler and, more recently, Drew Wolitarsky) and how a rotating protective wall is forming in front of him.

But as coach Mike O’Shea likes to say, the quarterback’s most important job is to win. And the Bombers have won five of their last seven games, four of them with No. 8 as head coach.

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Collaros isn’t celebrating, though, just as he wasn’t sulking during the 4-0 start, and that might be one of his most important contributions to the cause.

“They have to be like that,” O’Shea said. “He shows his fire when it’s just right. And that makes a difference. Ricky Ray was the same way. Just balanced, and then all of a sudden he did something and the guys just went crazy. Zach has that same leadership quality. He has a tremendous amount of fire, but he lets it burn slowly.”

“There’s so much to process in this position. If you let your own emotions distract you, there’s no way you can be successful.”

This must be a fire that is difficult to control.

Interceptions are like gasoline to a quarterback. The ones in the score zone are high octane.

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Four defeats in a row at the start of a season and the resulting criticism and all the noise would trigger a fit of rage in some people.

“I was just saying that to my wife the other day. He stays so level-headed through all of the ups and downs,” Wolitarsky said. “He doesn’t have Instagram, he doesn’t have any of that Twitter stuff, he’s just as old-fashioned as you can get. And I think that really helps him a lot because he doesn’t really care about all that other stuff.”

The quarterback’s poise was never more evident than last Friday, when Collaros threw three more interceptions, only to step onto the field with less than two minutes left to lead the game-winning touchdown drive against Hamilton.

“He leads by example,” Demski said. “He’s a professional. That really sums it up. I know that sounds trite and simple and short, but that’s just the way he is. He always stays level-headed, no matter what the ups and downs are. He always gets back on his feet.”

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It should be noted that Winnipeg’s defense and kicker Sergio Castillo allowed this team to achieve these victories.

“We need to do a better job of contributing,” says Collaros.

Which brings us to the next question: Is all this sustainable?

Can this version of the Bombers, which scores fewer touchdowns than anyone else and averages just 21 points per game, continue to win more than they lose over the last seven games and even pose a threat in the playoffs?

“I’ve seen a lot of different approaches over the years,” O’Shea said, recalling a game as a player in which his team lost by 28 points even though the opposing offense never crossed the halfway line.

It was the ball losses that broke his team’s neck that day.

With 25 so far, the Bombers have lost the ball more times this season than any other player.

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About half of them are due to the quarterback’s name, whether it’s errors in play formation or setup, physical or mental errors, or the receiver slipping and the ball bouncing off a defender’s helmet and into the arms of another defender, as was the case with Collaros’ last interception.

They all count. And they all hurt.

In this regard, the quarterback doesn’t mind having the issue addressed to him.

“The bottom line is I need to protect the ball better and not put us in bad situations,” he said. “That’s always a focus. That’s going to become more important the closer we get to the final goal. But the sense of urgency has to be there, and that’s it.”

The man’s intention for the rest of the day was clear.

Blow out the candles and get back to work.

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