Brady Oliveira's dream of playing in the NFL has come with its fair share of obstacles. His background suggests the odds were stacked against him. But here he is now, training for a shot at the pros following a standout running back career at North Dakota.
Oliveira is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. While Canadian prospects are earning Division I football scholarships more frequently now, Oliveira's location in central Canada wasn't ideal in getting recruiting attention compared to players on the East and West coasts that are closer to major universities. He did have a number of FCS and FBS schools in contact with him. But Oliveira had his own challenges in getting face-to-face interactions with coaches.
“I grew up in a family that financially, it was extremely tough," Oliveira told HERO Sports. "So I wasn’t able to go to all the unofficial visits or go to the camps. Grand Forks being about 2.5 hours from where I lived, I was able to get there quite a bit … I’m extremely blessed that the coaching staff at UND believed in me and gave me that opportunity.”
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Once on campus, Oliveira started racking up accomplishments on and off the field. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound running back played as a true freshman in 2015. By 2016, Oliveira was an All-Big Sky Conference Third Team running back and a HERO Sports Sophomore All-American. 2017 saw another All-Conference selection and he saved his best season for his senior year, rushing for 940 yards and eight touchdowns.
While splitting carries with John Santiago, Oliveira ran for 2,822 career yards and 22 touchdowns, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Most importantly, Oliveira is the first generation of his family to graduate college. He earned his degree in 3.5 years, which has allowed him to move to Minneapolis and train for a professional football career.
Oliveira says he has a burning desire to accomplish his childhood dream. And his fuel is his mother.
“Seeing everything that I went through in life, it was an extremely hard childhood that my siblings and I grew up in," Oliveira said. "But my mom did an amazing job raising my brother and I and my sister. You have to have a 'why' in life. You have to have someone that wakes you up in the morning and has that burning desire in your heart to go after and chase your dream. That 'why' is my mom. She’s my everything. This is who I do it for."
"She deserves the world. She’s done everything for me and I just want to be able to repay her. She’s already so proud of me with all the accomplishments that I’ve already earned. But me accomplishing my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL and doing it for my mom, it would literally bring a tear to my eye.”
As a bigger back, Oliveira said he believes his game translates well to the NFL. He's working on his top speed and wants to run well at his Pro Day, which is in Fargo, N.D., on March 28. Oliveira is a one-cut runner who gets north and south. And with his size, he says he has the ability to protect the quarterback in passing situations and can even run block if asked to.
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One thing Oliveira said he wasn't able to show a whole lot at UND was his pass-catching ability. But he thinks he did well in that area at the College Gridiron Showcase, a January all-star game for NFL prospects held in Fort Worth, Texas.
He wants to show it again at his Pro Day along with the speed and agility testing. The strength is already there, as evident on his film and this video of him doing 30 reps on the bench press, which would have been the second most among RBs at the NFL Combine.
As with most FCS prospects, Pro Days are the one shot or last chance to get in front of scouts and show them you are good enough to play at the next level.
It's a moment Oliveira is ready for.
“Ever since I started to play this game of football, it’s always been a dream of mine to pursue this and play in the NFL," Oliveira said. "I speak that into existence every day. When I wake up I think about it and speak it. When I go to bed I speak it. During the day I speak it. I’ve always been thinking about this.”
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