Bombers’ Brady Oliveira named CFL’s outstanding player, top Canadian

Brady Oliveira stole the amusement astatine the CFL awards banquet.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers moving backmost captured the George Reed Most Outstanding Player honour and was named apical Canadian for a 2nd consecutive year. Oliveira led the West Division to 4 of the 7 apical idiosyncratic awards Thursday nighttime astatine the Vancouver Convention Centre.

“It’s astonishing to beryllium up present with 2 of the astir prestigious awards successful this astonishing league that I’ve been watching since I was a young kid,” helium said. “It’s a dream, man, it’s awesome.

“But I privation to triumph a Grey Cup.”

Oliveira and the Bombers look the Toronto Argonauts successful the Grey Cup connected Sunday astatine B.C. Place Stadium. Winnipeg is successful the crippled for a 5th consecutive twelvemonth and chasing a 3rd title.

Also honoured were Saskatchewan’s Rolan Milligan Jr. (defensive player), Edmonton’s Nick Anderson (rookie), Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (lineman) and Janarion Grant (special-teams) and Montreal’s Jason Maas (coach of the year).

Voting was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and 9 CFL caput coaches. Fifty-six votes were completed.

Saskatchewan long-snapper Jorgen Hus earned the Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award (possessing attributes of Canada’s veterans) while Winnipeg linebacker Adam Bighill received the Tom Pate Memorial Award (community service). B.C. Lions proprietor Amar Doman was presented the Commissioner’s award.

Carolyn Cody, B.C.’s vice-president of concern operations and marketing, received the Jane Mawby Tribute award.

Oliveira, 27, earned a 2nd consecutive CFL rushing rubric with 1,353 yards. A finalist past year, the five-foot-11, 222-pound Winnipeg native besides topped the league successful yards from scrimmage (1,829) for a 2nd consecutive twelvemonth to garner 31 votes.

Oliveira hopes to beryllium an inspiration to aboriginal Canadian players. He’s conscionable the 4th Canuck to triumph some awards successful the aforesaid year.

“I privation to conscionable proceed playing highly bully shot successful this league for a batch much years and marque definite I animate the younger generation,” Oliveira said. “Understand if you’re a Canadian kid and you privation to play astatine a accomplishment position, you tin triumph the astir outstanding subordinate award.

“It doesn’t ever person to spell to a quarterback. If you’re the champion subordinate successful the league and you truthful hap to a moving back, receiver, information oregon immoderate it is that you tin bash it due to the fact that there’s been others earlier you who’ve accomplished the feat.”

Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell was the finalist. A two-time grant winner, Mitchell led the CFL successful passing (career-best 5,451 yards) and TDs (32).

Winnipeg head manager Mike O’Shea said portion Oliveira’s treble was a lofty accomplishment, helium doesn’t expect the prima halfback to dwell upon it.

“I deliberation Brady, he’s wired right, not conscionable connected the shot tract but knowing team,” O’Shea said. “You triumph an grant (MOP) similar that, it’s a infinitesimal you should beryllium arrogant of.

“I besides cognize travel aboriginal (Thursday night) he’s going to beryllium focused connected 1 happening and 1 happening only.”

Oliveira received 55 votes arsenic apical Canadian.

Montreal antiaircraft lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund was the finalist. The six-foot-two, 248-pound Dartmouth, N.S., autochthonal had a CFL-best 9 tackles for a nonaccomplishment and team-high 7 sacks portion registering a career-best 36 tackles.

The five-foot-11, 200-pound Milligan received 35 votes aft starring the CFL successful interceptions and antiaircraft takeaways (both eight) and registering 111 antiaircraft plays (fifth overall). He was besides 3rd successful special-teams tackles (20) and helped Saskatchewan’s defence fertile archetypal successful forced turnovers (49), forced fumbles (17) and fumble recoveries (14) and 2nd successful interceptions (24).

“It was a surreal infinitesimal erstwhile they called my name,” Milligan said. “Just a unreserved of emotions, I benignant of inactive person them close now.

“I’m inactive benignant of trying to travel backmost down from it but it feels large conscionable getting the designation for each of the enactment I’ve enactment in.”

Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette was the finalist. He registered a CFL-high 137 antiaircraft plays — including 102 tackles to basal 4th — and was 2nd wide successful tackles for a nonaccomplishment (eight) portion adding 5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions.

Hunter, of North Bay, Ont., received 40 votes successful becoming the 2nd Argo to assertion the honour aft Dejon Allen won it past year. The six-foot-three, 315-pound Hunter played defender and tackle successful 17 starts arsenic Toronto finished 2nd wide successful rushing (121.3 yards per game) and 3rd successful violative scoring (26.2 points) and nett offence (368.7 yards).

This marks the archetypal clip Toronto players person won this grant successful consecutive years since Mike Kiselak did truthful successful 1996-97.

“It’s bully to person it enactment successful Toronto,” Hunter said. “I decidedly would similar to commencement the inclination of america being known arsenic the violative enactment team.

“To person Dejon benignant of manus the baton disconnected to me, hopefully I’ll support it oregon get to manus it disconnected to different teammate adjacent year.”

Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland was the finalist. Ferland, of Melfort, Sask., started each 18 regular-season games, playing guard, tackle and centre.

Maas received 30 votes aft guiding Montreal (league-best 12-5-1 record) atop the East Division for the archetypal clip since 2012 aft starring the franchise to a Grey Cup rubric past year, his archetypal arsenic caput coach. The Als past recorded 12 regular-season wins successful 2010.

“It’s rather an honour to beryllium recognized,” Maas said. “I emotion being a portion of the Montreal enactment . . . it takes each azygous 1 to beryllium successful.

This grant isn’t conscionable for me, it’s for our organization.”

Corey Mace, who led Saskatchewan (9-8-1) to 2nd successful the West Division successful his archetypal play arsenic caput coach, was the finalist.

The five-foot-nine, 157-pound Grant is the 2nd Toronto special-teams victor arsenic Javon Leake earned it past year. Grant led the CFL successful punt-returns yards (career-high 989), mean (14.8 yards) and TDs (three) and full instrumentality touchdowns (four) portion mounting vocation highs successful punt returns (67), kickoff returns (41) and kickoff instrumentality yards (1,000).

Grant didn’t consciousness immoderate vindication considering helium signed with Toronto arsenic a escaped cause successful May as Winnipeg chose not to re-sign him aft 4 seasons.

“I deliberation it proves conscionable maine going retired determination and being large for immoderate squad I play on,” Grant said. “It conscionable lights a occurrence successful me, it tells maine to support going.

“There’s ever foodstuff successful me, I’m ever fired up playing football.”

B.C. kicker Sean Whyte was the finalist aft making 50-of-53 tract goals — 94.3 per cent — for a 2nd consecutive twelvemonth portion making 36-of-38 converts.

The five-foot-11, 242-pound Anderson finished tied with teammate Nyles Morgan for astir antiaircraft tackles (111) and 2nd successful some full tackles (116) and antiaircraft plays (130) successful 18 regular-season games.

Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges was the finalist. He had a team-high 83 catches (club grounds for first-year players) with 933 yards and 4 touchdowns successful 15 games earlier suffering a season-ending limb injury.