Brady Oliveira is climbing up the Blue Bombers all-time rushing chart; photo by Cameron Bartlett
Just the other day Brady Oliveira spoke to a group of media and during the conversation touched on a number of topics, from attending the funeral last week of his high school coach and mentor Stu Nixon, to the Grey Cup being in Winnipeg, to answering this question:
How does a guy who won his second consecutive rushing title, his second consecutive Most Outstanding Canadian award and was honoured for the first time as the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player top last season?
“I just keep thinking about a Grey Cup,” said Oliveira. “When you ask me that question my mind instantly went to that last game in Vancouver. So how do I top last season? It’s finishing it this year. Finishing it in the Grey Cup the last game of the season.
“Making sure we all come out here and handle business.”
That’s the politically correct, perfect team-first answer. And it also says everything about where Oliveira’s head is at a few days ahead of Thursday’s season opener at Princess Auto Stadium against Buck Pierce and the 1-0 B.C. Lions.
The answer also sent yours truly tumbling down a rabbit hole, especially with the Blue Bombers on a Week 1 bye and playing the spectators while the rest of the CFL was busy. And what we discovered is that while Oliveira is focussed on a Grey Cup, he’s also moving into some elite company, both at a league level and among the legends of the Blue Bombers.
So, what follows is what we found at the bottom of the rabbit hole as we look at the numbers current Blue Bombers are chasing…
7 UPCOMING MILESTONES…
189
Oliveira needs just 189 yards rushing to move past Fred Reid into seventh place on the Blue Bombers all-time rushing list; Reid is at 4,505; Oliveira begins 2025 at 4,317. Andrew Harris, his mentor and predecessor, sits at 5,402 in sixth place.
Oliveira is also chasing a fourth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. The only other Blue Bomber running back to post more than three consecutive 1K seasons is Charles Roberts, who had a run of six straight from 2002-07.
200
The next touchdown pass Zach Collaros throws will be his 110th as a Blue Bomber and 200th in his CFL career. Worth noting: only 13 other QBs in CFL history have thrown for 200 or more TDs in their careers, with 11 of them in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
That list: Anthony Calvillo (455), Damon Allen (394), Henry Burris (373), Ron Lancaster (333), Ricky Ray (324), Matt Dunigan (303), Kevin Glenn (293), Tracy Ham (284), Doug Flutie (270), Danny McManus (259), Tom Clements (252), Bo Levi Mitchell (226) and Dieter Brock (210). Of that list, only Glenn and Mitchell — the latter the starting QB in Hamilton — are not in the CFHOF.
One more on Collaros, who won’t be in action until the Blue Bombers second game: his next win will be his 50th as a Winnipeg QB. Only Kenny Ploen (82) and Dieter Brock (71) had more W’s as a starter.
441
With 441 more receiving yards Nic Demski will hit the 5,000-yard mark as a Blue Bomber (he’s currently at 5,284, including his first three seasons in Saskatchewan. The 5K mark in Winnipeg is significant because only nine other Blue Bombers have hit that mark.
That list: Milt Stegall (15,153), James Murphy (9,036), Joe Poplawski (8,341), Terrence Edwards (7,200), Rick House (6,266), Perry Tuttle (5,817), Ernie Pitts (5,525), Clarence Denmark (5,478), and Jeff Boyd (5,110).
43
Willie Jefferson has 43 sacks as a Blue Bomber, the fifth-highest total in franchise history behind Tyrone Jones (98), Tony Norman (59), Doug Brown (52) and Gavin Walls and Elfrid Payton (47). He has 74 career sacks, including his days with Edmonton and Saskatchewan.
Jefferson also has 78 pass knockdowns, a stat the CFL has tracked since 1994. That ranks fourth all time behind Eddie Davis (111), Adrion Smith (90) and Shannon Garrett (79) and is an exceptional number for a defensive end.
The big man shows no signs of fading — he was a CFL All Star last season — and could become the first player in league history to reach 100 sacks, 100 knockdowns.
205
Jake Thomas has suited up for 205 regular season games, all as a Blue Bomber. That total ranks fifth all-time in Winnipeg history behind Bob Cameron (394), Troy Westwood (293), Chris Walby (249) and Stan Mikawos (220).
Stanley Bryant, FYI, is at 220 games played including his days in Calgary with 154 as a Blue Bomber.
71
One for the foot soldiers… Shayne Gauthier and Nick Hallett both have 71 career special teams tackles, all as members of the Blue Bombers. Their next special-teams tackles will tie them with Shawn Gallant for ninth spot on the club’s all-time list behind Wade Miller (184), Brendan Rogers (124), Mike Miller (110, who holds the CFL record for career tackles on specials with 226), Neil McKinlay (92), Pierre-Luc Labbé (84), Jesse Briggs (78), Wayne Weathers (75) and Doug Hocking (72).
455
Sergio Castillo has 455 points in his three stints with the Blue Bombers (2015, 2021, 2023-). With eight more points he’ll move past Justin Palardy into eighth place all-time and behind Troy Westwood (2,748), Trevor Kennerd (1,840), Milt Stegall (890), Justin Medlock (802), Bernie Ruoff (673), Gerry James (601) and Charles Roberts (474).
Castillo and Palardy both have 114 career field goals in Winnipeg, tied for fifth most behind Westwood (617), Kennerd (394), Medlock (195) and Ruoff (148).
