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News September 25, 2024

48-Hour Primer | Week 17

Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Brady Oliveira (20) runs for the first down against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the first half of CFL Banjo Bowl action in Winnipeg Saturday, September 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

@EdTaitWFC

The Most Outstanding Player chatter has reached full volume across the Canadian Football League and Brady Oliveira’s name is gaining momentum in a year in which voters are staring at a muddied field of candidates with no clear-cut favourite.

And here’s the thing about that as it relates to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers homegrown running back: the individual accolades matter — inject any athlete with a truth serum and they’ll admit as much — but Oliveira’s experience last year at the Grey Cup, where he won the Most Outstanding Canadian honours and was MOP runner-up to Toronto’s Chad Kelly, gave him a different perspective.

Saluted on the Thursday before the Grey Cup at the league’s awards gala in Niagara Falls, Oliveira was absolutely soaring. And three days later he was in despair after the Blue Bombers gave up a late lead in falling to the Montreal Alouettes in the championship game.

“This business is crazy, man,” said Oliveira after practice Wednesday. “The highs are incredible — the most amazing thing ever. And the lows are real low. I experienced that walking on the stage and accepting my MOC award and then days later I still remember being in the locker room just bawling my eyes out with just a ton of emotion.

“You put so much work in and you don’t achieve the end goal. Obviously, it was a great year for the team and what we were able to accomplish as a team, individually what I was able to accomplish with my boys. But, at the end of the day it’s not what we wanted.”

Oliveira hit the 1,000-yard mark, scored his first two touchdowns of the season and recaptured the CFL rushing lead all in one night’s work in last Saturday’s win over the Edmonton Elks. He now has 1,021 yards rushing and has set a career high in receptions with 46 for 376 yards.

A year ago, as the top Canadian and MOP runner-up he rushed for 1,534 yards – the second highest total by a Canadian in league history after Jon Cornish amassed 1,813 yards for the Calgary Stampeders in 2013 – as well as topping the league in yards from scrimmage (2,016) and touchdowns (13).

Yet here’s the number that really matters in ’24 — the Blue Bombers are 5-0 in games in which he has rushed for over 100 yards and his fingerprints are all over the team’s recent 8-2 run that has pushed them back into top spot in the West Division.

And when Oliveira was asked Wednesday if he should be in the MOP conversation, he stiff-armed the idea to the ground like a would-be tackler.

“I want to win a Grey Cup,” he said. “I keep reminding myself of the last two seasons, getting there and the way that season ended. Obviously, the season-ending awards at the end of the year, there’s still one more important game after the awards show.

“My main focus is really wanting to win a Grey Cup for the organization and just for my teammates that haven’t got to experience a victory yet. I’ve got to win two of them… I’m just going to continue to let my play do the talking, show up every single week, go out there and honour my teammates, battle like I do every single week and if it happens, it happens. If not, I just want to win a Grey Cup.

“As you grow as a player you learn how to become a pro, and you understand the importance of being a good teammate and doing the right thing every single day and that the individual statistics don’t mean as much as winning championships.”

HOT TICKET: The Blue Bombers announced today that Friday’s Orange Shirt Game is officially a sell-out. It will mark the third consecutive capacity crowd for the club after the Banjo Bowl and August 23rd win over Hamilton and the sixth home game this season in excess of 30,000.

SOLD OUT!

 

OUCH REPORT: The Blue Bombers held a closed practice on Wednesday with DB Nick Hallett and WR/KR Lucky Whitehead not participating and LB Brian Cole listed as questionable.

ICYMI: We cranked out Episode #21 of The Huddle live on the Blue Bombers YouTube page on Tuesday, this week visiting with centre Chris Kolankowski. The big man was engaging and offered some insight into the club’s O-line room — including rookie Gabe Wallace’s love of sardine sandwiches. Check out that and more here: