Brady Oliveira, the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player, is a rarity in a league often defined by highlight reels and statistics.
After a challenging start to the season, he freely admits that even he needed a standout performance to reaffirm his confidence. He found that boost and more in a dominant showing against the Montreal Alouettes last Thursday, in a 26-13 victory at Molson Stadium.
“Yeah, I needed that,” Oliveira said of his performance. “It’s a nice little confidence booster.”
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Bombers QB Zach Collaros (left) hands the ball off to Brady Oliveira on Tuesday during practice.
The Winnipeg native delivered an impressive performance, racking up more than 200 yards from the line of scrimmage. It was a welcome sight for a player known for his production and a team looking to build momentum.
He rushed for his first 100-yard game of the year, carrying the ball 16 times for 137 yards. He also caught all nine of his targets for an additional 73 yards. Both were team-highs.
“It does something to you,” Oliveira added. “I know what I can do in this league, I’ve done it for a number of years. But, yeah, it’s a nice little boost, just knowing that, as a team, we can come together and put that performance on the field against a really good defence.”
Oliveira’s recent surge is a testament to his patience and commitment to the team. While he’s finally getting rewarded for his hard work in the form of touchdowns — both his touchdowns on the season have come in the last two games — the weeks where he wasn’t finding the end zone offered several examples for why his value is much more than what shows up on a stat sheet.
Oliveira said he takes great pride in being a “productive player” in all facets of the game, whether it be running the ball, catching it, or blocking for his teammates. He emphasized the importance of what a player can do without the ball in their hands – on the field and off – while also highlighting the value of being able to do all three of those jobs effectively.
In fact, blocking is a critical component of his game that he believes is often overlooked.
“Blocking is extremely important in this league,” Oliveira explained.
The performance of the offensive line against the Alouettes was a key factor in Oliveira’s success. That it came against a Montreal defence that was averaging the second-fewest rushing yards against this season made it all the more encouraging.
‘Confidence is a thing of beauty’– Brady Oliveira
Oliveira expressed hope that it was just the beginning of their dominance in the trenches.
“Confidence is a thing of beauty,” he said. “When you build up confidence, man, you’re really hard to be stopped, and especially as a unit together. As an offence, we need to continue to have these good performances.”
This increased confidence will be vital as the Bombers prepare for a home-and-home series with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, a series that begins with the annual Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday and wraps up with the 21st instalment of the Banjo Bowl the following week.
“We did a great job last week and we’re going to continue to build off that,” Oliveira said. “We’ll continue to stack those up every single week.”
Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca
Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer
Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.
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