CFL player, Brady Oliveira, dedicates his life to football and saving abandoned strays

Brady Oliveira, of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL, is a dominant force in the world of pro football for sure, but he has come to be known for a much more important role, and that is his role in saving abandoned strays.

A viral video came out online featuring the talented football player and his journey. That’s somewhat old news, as many videos have come out at The Dodo (a site and YouTube channel that is dedicated to animal videos, rescues and informative stories), but he’s still very much into this and has saved numerous dogs and kittens abandoned and stranded, helping them to find a forever home.

Brady Oliveira plays football and rescues strays

K9 Advocates Manitoba is the organization that Oliveira works with and it was just this past May that he was called to action yet again in Peguis First Nation, Manitoba. This time, he brought along a mighty reinforcement: Shai Ross, who plays for the Edmonton Elks.

"“Shai is actually pretty allergic to dogs, so he just took a ton of allergy pills before he got in my truck and before we headed out to the community…”via CTV"

The area was flooded severely and images of the catastrophe show ice cold water and snow for miles around. Brady Oliveira and Shai Ross powered through the mess and they recued a dog and two of her puppies.

"“The closer you got, you started to see (the dog) on the deck, and then the closer you got, you just started hearing her cries and cries and cries, and it was just so heartbreaking knowing that she had nowhere to go. She was surrounded by water…”via CTV (link above)"

And it isn’t just dogs he saves, as his many videos of rescues include kittens as well, as stated above. His TikTok is a treasure trove of posts related mostly to these rescues. Yes there’s some football stuff, but mostly it’s his rescues.

It’s clear he is dedicated to this and dedicated to keeping these animals safe and giving them a life they deserve. He actually adopted two of his rescues, Gunnar and Nellie, and he wants to give them a great life…his goal for all the puppies he rescues, as stated.

They all get taken in by the K9 Advocates Manitoba organization and subsequently get fostered out and adopted where they find their forever homes.

"“I had no idea that this was such an issue in the province that I’m from. But once I saw how many dogs were being abandoned, I knew that I had to help…”via Daily Paws“I’ll do this ‘til the day I die. I love being a voice for the voiceless, and that’s what keeps me going back and back, rescue after rescue. It’s just something that is a passion of mine now…”via CTV (link above)"

At 24 years old and at 5 ft 10 and 225 pounds of lean muscle, the running back has quite the football career ahead of him. He garnered for himself a scholarship in high school for college and played his college ball in North Dakota although he is a Winnipeg, Manitoba native.

He went undrafted in the 2019 NFL draft, but was called home to Winnipeg in that same year’s draft, only for the CFL. He’s been with the team since. He is a two-time Grey Cup Champion. The Grey Cup is the CFL’s Super Bowl for you non-CFL football fans.

Brady Oliveira came back from a pretty serious injury in 2019 and stated that he was definitely in a dark place, but he made it back with loads and loads of hard work. He brings that same drive to these rescues, often dealing with dangerous environments.

Also of note, it was during his 2018 spring break that Oliveira went to San Miguel, El Salvador on a mission with FOCUS, a Catholic outreach program, and stated in the past that the experience strengthened his faith in Christ and inspired him further to continue doing such work…something he’s followed through on quite obviously.

Did you know about Brady Oliveira’s rescue work? Have any rescue stories of your own that you would like to share? Let us know.