Brady Oliveira has long been a hardhat and lunchpail guy with his mantra being about keeping his head down and grinding while not being afraid to get his hands dirty.
It’s been the cornerstone rock-solid approach to what has made the Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back one of the best players in the entire Canadian Football League.
Trust the process and control what you can control, is the common refrain.
So, when a guy consistently leans into that AND the team he plays for recommits in the offseason to being all in for another Grey Cup run, well, it’s enough to get the blood pumping again.
“It’s amazing. It’s exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever really been this excited for a football season and that’s crazy because every year I’m excited, I’m jacked up,” said Oliveira in a Zoom media call from the Canadian Football League’s Content Capture event in Hamilton. “But just seeing the moves that were made by the organization, especially offensively… bringing in Tim White, that was a massive signing. Tommy Nield is a very under-rated signing. He’s going to come in and do some big things for us and help us out.
“My favourite signing was big Brox; having Jarell Broxton part of that offensive line group is only going to make it that much more effective and dynamic when it comes to what we want to do as an offence and what our identity is going to be.
“Bringing Tommy Condell on, with his experience as an offensive coordinator and the relationship he’s built with Zach (Collaros) and understanding that relationship they’re going to have moving forward… there’s been many conversations that I’ve had with Zach with offseason and how tight he’s working with Tommy in building out this playbook and getting inside what the players are wanting.
“There’s going to be a great working relationship with players and coaches moving forward. That’s a recipe for success.”
We last met with Oliveira before Christmas, not long after he had signed a new contract which will keep him in Blue Bombers colours through 2028. The club has been busy since then, adding Condell to the coaching staff and three new starters on offence in White, Broxton and Nield, as he mentioned above. On top of that three veterans were added on defence in defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, cornerback Jonathan Moxey and linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox.
That led us to ask Oliveira on Thursday if the transactions since he made his own commitment to return having him feeling more content with his decision.
“I had total trust and confidence in this organization,” he said. “I mean, the organization is clearly doing something right with the success and the track record we’ve had in the last number of years. We fell extremely short of what we set out to do last season, and I just had trust in the management that they weren’t going to let this happen again.
“They’ve proved to everyone that last year wasn’t good enough and there were some changes that needed to be made. They made those changes; they brought in some additions that I truly believe are going to help us put the best roster out there in Week 1 and give us a chance to compete in a Grey Cup.”
A couple of other snippets from Thursday’s media session with Oliveira — who was paired with Edmonton Elks running back Justin Rankin for the interview — in this week’s edition of 1st & 10…
Good question from CJOB’s Derek Taylor… to both running backs, asking each what aspect from the other’s game they’d like to steal and add to their own. Oliveira praised Rankin for his speed and game-breaking abilities. Rankin, meanwhile, positively gushed about Winnipeg’s star tailback.
“His IQ is so crazy,” said Rankin of Oliveira. “My first year we had a coach that had a whole section of clips that were just labelled, ‘Brady.’ It was all the things that he did right from his patience to trusting the hole, trusting the scheme, getting the nitty-gritty yards. Sometimes I fall victim where I want to score every play and it causes me to not be as patient as I should be and I might miss that little five-six-yard run that is necessary throughout the game.
Justin Rankin in action against Winnipeg in 2024; photo by John Woods, Canadian Press
“I’m telling you, man, we used to watch Brady all season long. Any time we would start to get too fast and not as patient, our coach would have us go in there and we wouldn’t even watch film with the team, we would just watch Brady’s clips. We just watched Brady’s clips at how he’s so patient and he would just hit every hole exactly where it was supposed to be, every play where it was exactly where it was supposed to be. Over the course of a game after awhile they just start breaking. It’s five (yards), five, five, then 20, 30 because nobody wants to tackle this man and after a while they get tired. They get tired because he’s hitting it where he’s supposed to hit it every single play.
“Then his pass pro (pass protection). His pass pro speaks for itself. I want to pass pro like that. I’ve got to get my pass protection like Brady.”
Both Oliveira and Rankin… have similar characteristics, including their toughness. And the pair scoffed at suggestion of occasionally preserving their bodies by stepping out of bounds on a play.
Said Oliveira:
“There’s no running out of bounds, ever. I don’t care if it’s the fourth quarter and we’re up by 20. It’s just not something that is in my DNA to do. It’s like Justin said, I’m going to make you feel this every single play. I run violent. I run with intent and you’re going to feel it every single play because I know by me running like that by the time the fourth quarter comes around… yes, you’re going to stand in front of me because this is your job, but I promise I know they are not coming with the same intent they were in the first quarter because of the way I’m running. Again, it’s about setting that tone.
“When there is a way to run out of bounds and there’s a defender there and you lay it on him, well, that sets a tone not just for showing them what you’re bringing for the game, but it also brings that energy for your team as well.”
Oliveira hasn’t been in Winnipeg for most of the winter… as he returned to Bali again with his partner Alex Blumberg to train, help with dog rescues there and recharge for the upcoming CFL season. Their new show ‘Must Love Dogs’ will debut on CBC and CBC Gem later this month and red-carpet premiere of the event in Winnipeg has already sold out, with the proceeds going to K-9 Advocacy, Winnipeg Pet Rescue and Manitoba Animal Alliance.
“I feel like my life is on ‘Go’ mode constantly,” said Oliveira with a grin, “but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
More info on ‘Must Love Dogs’ can be found here from the CBC website.
Finally, Oliveira was asked about…. one of the ongoing offseason storylines about Condell, the new offensive boss, and how his leanings toward a dominant passing game might impact his workload.
“Yes, historically he’s definitely known as a passing guy, a passing attack, more opportunities in the pass game, which also excites me,” he said. ” I mean, I’m coming off a year for myself where I set career highs for receiving yards and receptions (61 receptions for 546 yards) and I still there are areas in that category where I can continue to improve and get better at. With Tommy, I think I’ll see more opportunities in that space, which really excites me.
“At the end of the day our identity will always be that tough, hard-nosed Winnipeg Blue Bomber football. We do want to run the football and set the tone from the start. The conversations I’ve had with Tommy have been amazing ever since he took this job, getting to know him as a person, him getting to know me and also talking some football. And, I don’t think he’s ever had a running back like me and so I think he looks forward to that and I definitely look forward to working with him and seeing ways we can continue to get better.
“I just want to find ways to win and I now when my hands are on the football and the offensive line gets to do what they do best and that’s moving people, usually good things happen. And if there’s going to be times where we have to pass the football and we win, we win, so that will always be mindset.”