Oliveira’s evolution Bombers star running back has faced adversity head on during journey to grid-iron glory By: Jeff Hamilton Posted: 7:30 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023 Last Modified: 10:25 AM CST Friday, Nov. 17, 2023 Updates

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HAMILTON — When asked what impresses him most about Brady Oliveira, Sergio Castillo’s eyes start to widen and a smile covers his face.

The Blue Bombers kicker doesn’t spend a whole lot of one-on-one time with the club’s running back, but he’s had a front-row seat as Oliveira has morphed from promising hometown prospect to one of the CFL’s most prolific stars.

Castillo was in Winnipeg in 2021 when Oliveira was still trying to make a name for himself, overshadowed by sure Hall-of-Famer and fellow Winnipeg native Andrew Harris. After spending the next year in Edmonton, Castillo returned this season to watch the 26-year-old take the league by storm, leading the CFL in rushing yards and touchdowns and helping push the Bombers to a fourth straight Grey Cup appearance.

It isn’t Oliveira’s ability to punish opposing defenders or will his team to victories, nor is it his charitable efforts off it that has Castillo grinning from ear to ear. It’s much simpler than that, something he believes perfectly sums up the two-year transformation from the Brady Oliveira back then to the Brady Oliveira you see now.

“Just look at how he walks. This guy walks, breathes, eats confidence,” Castillo said. “Confident guy, but humble. And that’s so amazing to see, because it could easily get to his head – homegrown guy, playing on the best team in the CFL. For him to keep his feet where they’re at, on the ground, it’s something special.”

He added: “There are people who have talent and then there are some guys that don’t have as much talent but a lot of desire to work. But when someone can mesh both, it is a beautiful recipe and a beautiful thing to see. For him to be as young as he is and how mature he is, it’s a pretty incredible thing to be around.” One can argue life has never been better for Oliveira, who in just his second year as a starting running back is already viewed as one of the league’s poster boys for success. His 1,534 rushing yards was not only the most in the CFL in 2023, but also the second highest among Canadian-born players in league history.

Oliveira’s standout regular season was celebrated during the CFL’s annual awards show in a Niagara Falls Casino Thursday night, where he was crowned the most outstanding Canadian. He was also the West Division nominee for most outstanding player – making him the first Winnipegger ever to be nominated for the league’s top award – but fell short to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly.

As he takes his career to new heights, and fans ponder just how bright his future could be, it’s given Oliveira the opportunity to reflect on his past and the road he took to get here. Life hasn’t always been breezy for him, and it’s the hardship he’s faced in his personal and professional life, and how he managed to rise from above it all, that’s helped shape who he is.

“Adversity makes you so tough and when you face obstacles and challenges throughout your life, you come to appreciate that adversity,” Oliveira says. “I faced it so much when I was a kid, and I knew how to overcome it. I’m a motivated guy and driven and hungry and I’ve sacrificed a lot to get to where I am today.”

Oliveira didn’t have an easy upbringing.

He was raised by his mother, Shani, who was the sole provider for him and his older brother, Kyle, and his younger sister, Kallee, as Oliveira’s father was in and out of their lives while in the throes of a drug addiction. The family grew up in co-op housing and food in the fridge wasn’t always a given.

It was during these trying times that Oliveira first started to form the work ethic he’s known for by his teammates. Rather than complain, he went from house to house cutting grass and shovelling snow to help support his mom.

“Confident guy, but humble. And that’s so amazing to see, because it could easily get to his head – homegrown guy, playing on the best team in the CFL.”–Sergio Castillo

“It’s things I had to go through as a kid that most kids never, ever have to go through or experience, things that allowed me to stay tough and stay strong because I needed to stay strong for my mom,” Oliveira says. “That’s why I am the way I am because of the stuff I went through as a kid. I used all that adversity as the fuel to my fire.”

Having grown up playing soccer, Oliveira didn’t shift to football until he was 13.

A quick study, he would go on to play for the Oak Park Raiders, where he rewrote the Winnipeg High School Football League record books, including setting single-season highs for points (163), touchdowns (27), rushing yards (1,723) and rushing touchdowns (26). That led to a chance to play NCAA Division 1 football for the University of North Dakota before the Bombers selected Oliveira with the 14th overall pick in the 2019 CFL Draft.

Much like his childhood, the transition to professional football was far from seamless.

“I was as a guy that came in that was very hungry and that maybe had a little bit of a cocky confidence to him, thinking that I was ready for my pro career to start now,” Oliveira says. “I’ve been so impatient my entire life for success, and I thought I’m here, I’m ready to go, I can be the guy. I kind of had to have a bit of a wakeup call.”

The fact is Oliveira wasn’t used to taking a backseat in football and felt he could play a sizeable role in the offence right away. He admits during that first year in Winnipeg, while watching Harris run away with another league rushing title, that he would quietly tell himself not only could he do what he was doing but do it better.

The Bombers are a welcoming group, but they are also a team built on accountability. The club’s slogan, which is posted throughout the locker room, is FIFO, which stands for fit in or f—- off.

Oliveira was in need of a reality check, and it wasn’t long before he got one. There was a handful of players that would get in his ear in those early days, encouraging him to get on board with the club’s values and fit into the team’s culture.

“I’m a big believer in everything that’s meaningful in life you’re going to have to go through some sort of adversity and it’s how you come out of it and he’s the perfect example of that,” says Bombers receiver Nic Demski. “He’s been humbled, he’s dealt with adversity in his career and now all of his hard work has gotten him to where he is right now.”

“It’s things I had to go through as a kid that most kids never, ever have to go through or experience, things that allowed me to stay tough and stay strong because I needed to stay strong for my mom … That’s why I am the way I am because of the stuff I went through as a kid. I used all that adversity as the fuel to my fire.”–Brady Oliveira

Oliveira’s rookie season ended almost as fast as it started, derailed by a broken ankle suffered while blocking on special teams, in his first game in Winnipeg. What could have been the worst moment of his football career was one of the best things that could have happened.

The break from playing allowed Oliveira to take a step back and temper his expectations. It was another humbling experience, one that would give him a greater appreciation for his teammates and the lessons they bestowed on him en route to snapping a 28-year Grey Cup drought.

“It was almost like a higher power was telling me to slow down, that everything happens for a reason and your time isn’t now. The injury knocked me off a little bit, got me back down low and gave me time to grow on and off the field as a person,” Oliveira said. “I’ve learned a lot of great lessons from my teammates because they’re great people. “If I had been in a s——y locker room, a locker room that didn’t have the right people in it, I probably wouldn’t be standing here today.”

It was just six games into 2022 season, the first for Oliveira as the Bombers starting running back, and he was ready to call it quits.

The Bombers were rolling, boasting a spotless 6-0 record, but Oliveira was playing the worst football of his career. He had fewer than 200 rushing yards, averaging a dismal 3.2 yards on 62 carries, but was particularly underwhelming in a 26-19 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.

Oliveira finished that game with eight yards on nine carries, by far his worst numbers of his career. He felt defeated by the performance, as if someone had ripped the soul from his body, and he started to seriously doubt his place in the CFL.

After going through film one day after practice, he met with Jason Hogan, the team’s running backs coach. It’s not long before the tears start streaming down Oliveira’s face.

“I go in there and I complete break down,” he says. “I tell Coach Jay I don’t think I can do this no more. As a confident kid growing up, I had never once doubted myself. I had always bet on me.”

Hogan encouraged Oliveira to keep going, telling him that if he continued to put in the work that better times were ahead. Oliveira left the meeting unsure what was to come, but he remained committed to his process and it paid off in short order.

Oliveira pointed to a play in the very next game, a 24-10 home victory against the Elks, although he gained just 10 yards on the run, he did so while running over Elks defensive back Ed Gainey. That small play reinforced to Oliveira that he belonged in the CFL. He followed up that performance with the first 100-yard rushing game of his career the next week.

He finished the season with 1,001 rushing yards, good enough for third in the CFL, just 87 yards shy of the league lead.

“Ever since then it just kept clicking and clicking,” Oliveira said. “Now it’s about stacking good performances on good performances and as you do that, the confidence builds up, the momentum builds up and it’s a thing of beauty.” Fast-forward to today and Oliveira has evolved into one of the team’s leaders. While he still leans on his teammates for advice, he’s now dishing it out, too, able to give tips to new players as they adjust to the pro level.

“He’s just an all-around back, someone who takes pride in the all areas of the game … If things play out like they should, he could be the face of the CFL for years to come.”–Stanley Bryant

The change in Oliveira from the person in that emotional sit-down last summer to who he is in Hamilton is night and day. He leads when it comes to preparation, doing everything he can to improve his body and mind, knowing that the more work he puts in the more good things that will come.

“When he steps in the building, every meeting, every rep on the field, every period of practice his focus is on improving and being the best teammate that he can be,” Bombers offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce says. “You see that every day, his teammates see that and that’s the growth that you see with him.” Oliveira once doubted his future in football, but now his potential is sky high. At 26, he’s got a lot of years left in him and barring injury, if he can continue to play at his current pace, there’s the chance he could rewrite the CFL record books like he did in high school.

Stanley Bryant, arguably the best offensive lineman in CFL history, says while Oliveira is often praised for his running, he’s also a threat in the passing game and is among the best tailbacks when it comes to blocking.

“He’s just an all-around back, someone who takes pride in the all areas of the game,” Bryant said. “If things play out like they should, he could be the face of the CFL for years to come.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.com

X: @jeffkhamilton

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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