FRIESEN: Bombers running back Brady Oliveira is chasing his heroes

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He’s not one to talk about personal statistics or goals, but on this day I had a tidbit I thought might pique Brady Oliveira’s interest.

I began by approaching the hometown running back in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker-room on Wednesday and asking how many yards he has at the midpoint of the CFL season.

“I don’t really know right now,” the just-turned, 26-year-old said. “I’m not really too concerned about that. I still know I’m leading the league. It’s cool. It’s exciting. It shows the group we have up front, the offence we have, the work I’ve put into this. I bust my ass. I have for a very long time.

“And it’s paying off.”

With 703 yards rushing through nine games, Oliveira is on pace for a 1,400-yard season.

You don’t realize how significant that mark would be until you discover who was the last Blue Bombers running back to reach it.

“Was it Andrew?” Oliveira asked, the obvious answer, you’d think.

But fellow Winnipegger and future Canadian Football Hall of Famer Andrew Harris never did reach it. Harris came tantalizingly close, rolling to 1,390 yards in 2018 and 1,380 a year later, when he capped the year as the MVP in that drought-busting Grey Cup win.

“Uh, was it Charles Roberts?” Oliveira asked next.

Bingo!

The diminutive, talented and enigmatic back spun and darted his way to 1,609 yards back in 2006.

“Wow,” he said. “That was the guy. I watched Charles Roberts when I was a kid, growing up. That was someone I looked up to. And knowing he’s the last Bomber to, that would be pretty cool.”

There’s still a lot of football to be played, of course.

But what Oliveira has done so far is remarkable, on more than the historical front.

Typically, running backs accumulate big numbers with the help of some big runs.Winnipeg’s No 26, though, has yet to bust one for even 30 yards.

What he has done is bull his way to 10 yards or more a league-high 17 times,

It’s not feast or famine for this guy. Just one healthy bite after another, invariably ending with his shoulder pads down and tacklers looking up to see what just hit them.

Nobody likes it more than the big eaters up front.

“The offensive linemen take pride in that, having a running back leading the league,” Oliveira agreed. “I’m grateful to be in the position I am, in an offence where I get so many touches. It’s amazing. And the guys up front, blocking their behinds off for me. They’re doing a great job.”

His head coach is smiling, too.

Winnipeg’s league-leading aerial attack may thrill the fans, but there’s something about a punishing ground game that satisfies Mike O’Shea.

“We like his style,” O’Shea said. “It’s always very pleasing. I’m sure every tailback wants to go 100 at some point. Maybe it’ll happen. Don’t want to limit him. But he is a play-behind-his-pads type of runner, which is always exciting.

“The guys on the bench that are watching the offence go when we’re starting to roll and run the ball, that’s a pretty good mood on the sideline when he’s getting into that second level.”

Reaching Roberts’ level, and surpassing some of the numbers Harris put up, isn’t something Oliveira plans to fixate on. He just wants to win, after all.

But even being mentioned in the same breath as your heroes …

“If I continue to stay healthy, continue to stay available, play all 18 games like I said from the beginning,” he said. “It’ll all work out.”

pfriesen@postmedia.comTwitter: @friesensunmedia