 Oliveira with theWinnipeg Blue Bombers in 2025 | |
| No. 20 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers | |
|---|---|
| Position | Running back |
| Roster status | Active |
| CFL status | National |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1997-08-15)August 15, 1997 (age 28) Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight | 229 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Oak Park |
| College | North Dakota |
| CFL draft | 2019: 2nd round, 14th overall pick |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Stats at CFL.ca | |
Brady Oliveira (born August 15, 1997) is a Canadian professionalfootballrunning back for theWinnipeg Blue Bombers of theCanadian Football League (CFL). After finishing his college career among theUniversity of North Dakota's all-time leading rushers, he was drafted with the 14th overall pick in the2019 CFL draft, making him the first overall running back selected.[1] He is a two-timeGrey Cup champion after winning with the Blue Bombers in2019 and2021. He was also named to the All-CFL team in2023 and2024 and also won theCFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award in both of those years while being named theCFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2024.
As a youth, Brady initially playedsoccer due to his father playing the sport but his skills transferred to football.[2] The coach for theNorth Winnipeg Nomads asked his mother if he could play football as they had an injured player and she allowed the request.[2] Oliveira initially did some kicking before switching to playing receiver and running back.[2] For high school football, he started playing for the school team atOak Park High School where he became a star player.[2] As a senior at Oak Park, Oliveira was named the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL) Potter Division Offensive Player of the Year after rushing 170 times for 2,220 yards and 34 touchdowns, and catching six passes for 142 yards and two additional touchdowns.[3] In his 370-yard game against Sturgeon High School, he broke the WHSFL record for single-game touchdowns with six.[4]
He was named 2012 WHSFL Rookie of the Year as a sophomore in 2012.[5]
Oliveira spent the 2013 season at the Canada Prep Academy in Ontario.
Oliveira finished his career at UND as the program's 7th all-time leading rusher with 2,822 yards (5.6 yards per carry average).[6]
He earned All-Big-Sky Conference honors in 2016[7] and 2017.[8] UND competed as an FCS independent school in 2018 with no All-Conference teams applicable. He was named to the 2016 Hero Sports Sophomore All-American team after posting 897 yards and 10 touchdowns.[9]
Oliveira was among 169 nominees for the Allstate Good Works Team recognizing "distinguished accomplishments off the field."[10]
He was invited to and participated in the 2019College Gridiron Showcase college football all-star event in Fort Worth, Texas.[11]
Oliveira was named one of five finalists for the second annualJon Cornish Trophy given to the most outstanding Canadian player in collegiate football.[12]
| Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | Att | Yds | Avg | Yds/G | Long | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| 2015 | UND | 8 | 60 | 348 | 5.8 | 43.5 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 9.0 | 26 | 0 |
| 2016 | UND | 12 | 168 | 897 | 5.3 | 74.8 | 60 | 10 | 6 | 36 | 6.0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2017 | UND | 11 | 111 | 637 | 6.7 | 57.9 | 57 | 3 | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 23 | 0 |
| 2018 | UND | 11 | 161 | 940 | 5.8 | 85.5 | 68 | 8 | 9 | 104 | 11.6 | 34 | 0 |
| Total | 42 | 500 | 2,822 | 5.6 | 67.2 | 68 | 22 | 25 | 241 | 9.6 | 34 | 0 | |
Oliveira was named theRed Jarrett Male Athlete of the Year at the 2019 UND Night of Champions as the school's top male athlete.[13]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+1⁄8 in (1.76 m) | 228 lb (103 kg) | 29+3⁄4 in (0.76 m) | 10 in (0.25 m) | 4.77 s | 1.64 s | 2.71 s | 4.24 s | 6.90 s | 33.5 in (0.85 m) | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | 29 reps | |
| All values fromPro Day[14] | ||||||||||||
Oliveira wentundrafted in the2019 NFL draft but was selected 14th overall in the2019 CFL draft by theWinnipeg Blue Bombers.[15] On May 13, 2019, it was announced that he had signed his first professional contract with the Blue Bombers.[16] Oliveira injured his ankle during a Week 3 game against theEdmonton Eskimos while working on the kick return team which required surgery, and as a result he missed the rest of the2019 CFL season.[17] The Blue Bombers went on to win the107th Grey Cup with Oliveira on the injured list. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the2020 CFL season.
In2021, Oliveira played in 13 regular season games and started in six with the incumbent starting running back,Andrew Harris, on the injured list.[18] Oliveira had 94 rushing attempts for 429 yards and two touchdowns and nine receptions for 74 yards.[18] He also dressed in both post-season games, including Oliveira's first appearance in a Grey Cup game. He dressed as the back-up running back, and while he did not record any statistics, he earned his second Grey Cup ring as the Blue Bombers defeated theHamilton Tiger-Cats in the108th Grey Cup.[18]
On February 7, 2022, the Blue Bombers announced that Oliveira had agreed to a two-year contract extension.[19]That year, he played and started in all 18 regular season games where he rushed for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his CFL career, while also scoring five total touchdowns.[18] He helped Winnipeg finish 15-3 and made another appearance in theGrey Cup that year. In his first start in the championship game, he had 15 carries for 82 yards and one reception for four yards.[18] However, the Blue Bombers lost to theToronto Argonauts.
In2023, Oliveira rushed for 1,534 yards, the second most by a Canadian in a single season.[20] He also led the league in yards from scrimmage with 2,016 and in touchdowns with 13.[20] For his efforts, he won theCFL's Most Outstanding Canadian award and theJeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player in the West Division and was named a CFL All-Star.[20] Oliveira played in his third Grey Cup game, where he had 19 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown and one reception for eight yards, but the Blue Bombers lost the110th Grey Cup to theMontreal Alouettes.[21]
In February 2024, Oliveira was eligible to test free agency. However, prior to entering free agency, the Blue Bombers announced that he had signed a two-year contract extension with the team on February 6, 2024.[20] Oliveira was a non-participant for training camp for the2024 season due to a knee injury, but nonetheless played in the season-opening Grey Cup rematch against the Alouettes.[22] After recording 11 carries for 38 yards and three receptions for 17 yards, he was unable to finish that game after re-aggravating his knee injury.[22][23] He was inactive for the team's week 2 loss to theOttawa Redblacks and was named the backup toJohnny Augustine for the Blue Bombers' next game against theBC Lions.[22] However, after the Lions jumped to an early lead, Oliveira began receiving the majority of the snaps in the second quarter and finished the game with nine carries for 64 yards while the Bombers dropped to an 0–3 start to the year.[24] After a fourth straight loss and just 26 rushing yards in the loss to the Stampeders, Oliveira recorded back-to-back 100-yard rushing games in weeks 5 and 6, with both resulting in wins.[25] While he maintained strong production in the following games, he did not score a touchdown until the week 16 game against theEdmonton Elks, where he had 18 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns.[25] Oliveira finished the year having played in 17 regular season games, starting in 16, where he had 239 carries for 1,353 yards and three rushing touchdowns with 57 carries for 476 yards and one receiving touchdown.[25][26] At the end of the year, he was named to the All-CFL team and won both theCFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award andCFL's Most Outstanding Player Award.[27] After recovering from an 0–4 start to finish first in the West Division, the Blue Bombers hosted the West Final where Oliveira had 20 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown and two catches for 22 yards in the victory over theSaskatchewan Roughriders.[28] In his third start in a Grey Cup game, he had 11 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown and two receptions for 18 yards in the111th Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts.[29]
| Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Long | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| 2019 | WPG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | WPG | Season cancelled | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | WPG | 13 | 6 | 94 | 429 | 4.6 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 74 | 8.2 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | WPG | 18 | 18 | 202 | 1,001 | 5.0 | 4 | 31 | 23 | 252 | 11.0 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | WPG | 18 | 18 | 260 | 1,534 | 5.9 | 9 | 36 | 38 | 482 | 12.7 | 4 | ||
| 2024 | WPG | 17 | 16 | 239 | 1,353 | 5.7 | 3 | 30 | 57 | 476 | 8.4 | 1 | ||
| CFL totals | 68 | 58 | 795 | 4,317 | 5.4 | 18 | 36 | 127 | 1,284 | 10.1 | 6 | |||
Oliveira's father Adail, was a soccer player in Brazil and kickboxer in Canada.[2] His father was absent through much of his family's life, appearing sometimes and disappearing other times.[2] They lived inco-op housing and Oliveira took up jobs such as mowing grass and delivering flyers to help support his mother and family including buying a cellphone and helping to buy groceries.[2]
His brother Kyle is a mixed martial artist and boxer.[2][3][30] His sister got a soccer scholarship to theUniversity of Winnipeg where she studied criminal justice and later worked at theManitoba Law Courts.[2]
Oliveira has been featured on multiple episodes of the YouTube channelThe Dodo for his contribution of rescuing and fostering animals.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
