'I get to be mean': Ticats' Simoni Lawrence not pulling punches before Grey Cup

After a blistering early season hit on quarterback Zach Collaros, Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence says the two men have made up but he's warning football is a 'dangerous game' and he's not going to change his style of play.

Lawrence was suspended 2 games early in season for hit on opposing Grey Cup QB

Bill Graveland · The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 23, 2019 9:27 PM EST | Last Updated: November 24, 2019

Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence says he and opposing quarterback Zach Collaros have made up since Lawrence was suspended for a high hit on Collaros in Hamilton's season-opening win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press)

The six-foot-one, 231-pound Lawrence received a two-game suspension for a high hit on then Saskatchewan starting quarterback Zach Collaros in Hamilton's season-opening 23-17 win.

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Collaros, who was subsequently dealt to Toronto, was then shipped to Winnipeg at the trade deadline. He was the starter in the Bombers' final regular-season victory and remained in that position for playoff wins over the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan.

Lawrence sent out a tweet congratulating Collaros on the Bombers' win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West final and said the two had already hashed things out in the aftermath of the incident.

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"I was just proud of him, you know. Whatever happened earlier in the season happened and I still like him. I still care for him. I was just proud of him," Lawrence said this week.

"Everything's good. We wished each other our best and that's just what it is. At the end of the day, I know how Zach's built. He's a competitive dude. We're excited to play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers."

To Collaros the matter is over and done with.

"We had a conversation there after Labour Day and it's behind us now. Obviously you want to talk through things any time there's a problem in a friendship or any kind of relationship, right? It's nice to get it behind us."

"I'm not a polite person playing football'

Lawrence said he won't be engaging in any pleasantries with Collaros in Sunday's Grey Cup.

"I'm not a polite person playing football. It's the only time I get to be mean. I'm nice to everybody but with football I get to be mean so I take advantage of it," Lawrence said.

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Collaros said he's expecting nothing less from his former Hamilton teammate in a big game.

"A lot of effort. He's a really good football player and I expect him to do whatever [defensive co-ordinator] Mark [Washington] and [head coach] Orlondo [Steinhauer] ask him to do."

Lawrence also said it shouldn't come as a surprise to the public and football fans what the game is all about.

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"Football's a dangerous game. I don't understand why people act like football's so nice and pat each other on the butt. It's not like that," he said.

"I didn't grow up playing football like that so I get it, but it is what it is."