{"id":201831,"date":"2025-10-10T04:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T04:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/201831\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T04:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T04:36:08","slug":"48-hr-primer-game-16-at-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/201831\/","title":{"rendered":"48-Hr Primer | Game 16: at Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please allow us to interrupt all the chatter about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers push for a playoff spot \u2014 a win this weekend and they\u2019re in \u2014 to update a story first told in this space two years ago and absolutely now in need of a refresher\u2026<\/p>\n

Brady Oliveira is just 29 rushing yards away from hitting the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth consecutive year. Meanwhile, his teammate Nic Demski needs just four receiving yards to hit 1K for a third straight year.<\/p>\n

Now, here\u2019s what needs updating: two years ago the proud Winnipeggers became the first Canadian players on the same team to post 1K rushing and 1K receiving campaigns in the same season \u2014 a first in the Canadian Football League, a loop with over a century of history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What made the story even more astonishing then<\/a> \u2014 and continues to this day \u2014 is they\u2019re both Winnipeggers playing for their hometown team AND they both are products of the same institution in Oak Park High School.<\/p>\n

And now they\u2019re essentially locks to both do it again for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s insane,\u201d said Oliveira with a huge grin in a conversation with bluebombers.com this week. \u201cIt\u2019s something Nic and I have already talked about and it\u2019s something we\u2019ll remember for the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that no two Canadians on the same team have done this together in a league that\u2019s been around for more than 100 years? A Canadian duo getting a thousand yards together when no one had done it before? And now to do be close to doing it three years in a row? That\u2019s pretty special. That\u2019s all I can say \u2014 it\u2019s pretty special.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wild. It\u2019s two homegrown dudes playing for their hometown and making some noise and really making their city proud. It gives me goosebumps, man.\u201d \u2014 Brady Oliveira<\/p>\n

Consider this, too: Demski has 66 receptions for 996 yards (he posted career best totals of 76 catches for 1,030 yards last year) and when he eclipses the 1,000-yard mark he\u2019ll become just the fifth Blue Bomber in franchise history to post at least three consecutive 1K seasons.<\/p>\n

The others? Milt Stegall (1999-07), James Murphy (1986-89), Gerald Wilcox (1993-95) and Terrence Edwards (2010-12). Worth nothing all four are in the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame, with Stegall and Murphy also members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

As for rushers who have hit the 1K mark in four consecutive seasons \u2014 Oliveira is at 971 heading into Saturday\u2019s game in Edmonton against the Elks \u2014 he\u2019ll soon join only one other back to have done that in Charles Roberts, who accomplished the feat six consecutive times from 2002-07. Roberts is both the WFC and CFHOF and Oliveira will one day follow.<\/p>\n

Full disclosure: this is a subject we brought to Oliveira to discuss this week and, FYI, Demski is currently listed as \u2018questionable\u2019 for Saturday due to non-injury related issues. We add this for context because the Blue Bombers are singular in their focus on the Elks this week as a win would lock up a playoff spot for the ninth straight season. The blinders are on, no doubt, for this bunch and personal stats are secondary.<\/p>\n

Still, a pair of Winnipeggers posting three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons \u2014 soon to be four straight for Oliveira \u2014 is certainly something worth celebrating, and a legacy the duo will undoubtedly be reminiscing about over a beer decades from now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s 100 percent, man,\u201d said Oliveira. \u201cAnd the fact that Nic and I have a very special relationship beyond football \u2014 he\u2019s one of my closest friends \u2014 and have created some history together is special.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we\u2019re absolutely going to have a beer on this because Nic and I enjoy some cold ones every now and again together. And 40-50 years down the road or whatever it is and we get together and have a beer it\u2019ll be, \u2018Dude, remember that time we made history together as the first Canadian duo to have a thousand-thousand in rushing and receiving?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep saying it, to do it together is special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Just to reinforce how special it is, remember this: before every game the two Winnipeggers celebrate their fortune \u2014 two local guys living the dream playing for their hometown squad \u2014 with what they call their \u2018204 Handshake.\u2019<\/p>\n

Step 1: Demski and Oliveira do a two-finger peace-sign tap at waist level.<\/p>\n

Step 2: The pair then pound closed fists, one on top of the other, to represent the zero in 204.<\/p>\n

Step 3: The finishing move is an arm-lock high five, but with the two local products holding four fingers in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do it every game,\u201d said Oliveira. \u201cThe numbers are one thing. That first moment of creating history, yeah, that\u2019s special. All the other stuff is fun but it\u2019s those moments in the games that you remember.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Nic and I doing the 204 handshake before every game. Anyone watching that wouldn\u2019t get the 204 stuff, but to us it means everything. It\u2019s a moment we get to cherish every single game day and understand that we\u2019re doing it for our city and how amazing it is for us to have the opportunity to do that every single game and in front of this incredible fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Please allow us to interrupt all the chatter about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers push for a playoff spot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-201831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}