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![\"Montreal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/29792493ebd9e1a7382082ad02dd3f6d6f86e08fadbb730e15a27d8f4aca9f12.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMontreal Alouettes’ Isaac Adeyemi- Berglund (91) celebrates after a turnover during second half CFL action against the Toronto Argonauts in Montreal on Thursday, July 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I showed that through my play. It\u2019s everything I do. I try to mimic that same approach. It shows on the football field, and it exemplifies my play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adeyemi-Berglund \u2014 a two-time East Division All-CFL player \u2014 was named the East\u2019s nominee for outstanding Canadian for a second consecutive season last week. On Saturday in Hamilton, the six-foot-one, 250-pound pass rusher will look to disrupt CFL passing leader Bo Levi Mitchell in the East final against the Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old grew up in a single-parent household, and his mother, Robyn Berglund, still works a job as a cleaner. Because she didn\u2019t drive, his grandparents, Judith and Peter Snair, would drive an hour each way to get him to school and football practice.<\/p>\n
As he\u2019s grown older, their commitment has served as an inspiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just sacrificed so much,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t really notice it as a kid, you\u2019re just getting to practice. If it was a snowstorm, they would drive in and then drive me to my practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to grow up pretty quick, and I feel that I carry that, and I carry out that maturity in my game, and it definitely has contributed to the way that I play. Yeah, just so inspired by that, especially now, but I can see how it has changed the way that I play football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judith and Peter were in the Molson Stadium stands for last Saturday\u2019s 42-33 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East semifinal, surprising Adeyemi-Berglund, who had one sack and four tackles, by asking for last-minute tickets.<\/p>\n
His grandparents, and his mother, were also there for one of his career highlights at Southeastern Louisiana University, when Adeyemi-Berglund sacked LSU quarterback Joe Burrow \u2014 the eventful No. 1 pick in the NFL draft \u2014 on Sept. 8, 2018.<\/p>\n
Adeyemi-Berglund played one year of C\u00c9GEP football at Champlain College in Lennoxville, Que., to land a scholarship at Southeastern, where he also excelled as a biology student. He was drafted third overall by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2020 CFL draft.<\/p>\n
Alouettes teammate Shawn Lemon, one of the CFL\u2019s all-time sack leaders with 103, was with the Stampeders when Adeyemi-Berglund debuted during the 2021 season.<\/p>\n
Lemon remembers the youngster trying to soak up all the knowledge he could, from which angles to take while rushing to how to work as a unit with his fellow linemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like a little brother to me,\u201d the 37-year-old Lemon said. \u201cHe puts the work in, he puts the time in. Since 2021, he sat by me in the meeting rooms in Calgary, and he wanted to learn everything that I knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just know what he\u2019s been made of, and he\u2019s proven me right throughout this whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adeyemi-Berglund signed with the Alouettes last season following three years in Calgary and has taken his game to another level.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n