Ex-Eskimo uses boxing to turn his life around
It’s been two years since Adam Braidwood walked out of his cell at a medium-security prison in Agassiz, B.C. and into what was now his new life.
The former Edmonton Eskimos defensive end was nowhere near getting back to terrorizing quarterbacks on the football field again. Those days were long gone. Braidwood flushed that chance away after going down a road filled with drug addiction to pain killers and doing two years of a four-and-ahalf year sentence for sexual assault and a firearm violation.
He had no money. No place to live. But he was determined he wasn’t going to go down the same path of destruction that led to him facing many demons.
There were many tough days. It’s taken time, but he’s slowly pieced his life back together and he’s found a new passion as a professional boxer. He’s 7-1 inside the ring, and in February, he won the World Boxing Union heavyweight title. Braidwood has been fighting on KO Boxing ’s fight cards the past 19 months since leaving prison, and on Friday night at the Shaw Conference Centre, he will face local veteran boxer Tim Hague in the main event of KO 79.
“It’s been a tough road. I’m finally starting to get comfortable with my life. I don’t have to live in a halfway house anymore. I’ve made some steps forward, and a lot of that has to do with boxing,” said Braidwood. “I’m very committed to this sport, because it’s made my life better and given me my life back.”
There isn’t a day when Braidwood doesn’t think about the missed opportunities and the person he turned into after his addiction took over. But now, he’s not afraid to talk about his past, but he’s focused on building a bright future for himself inside and outside of the ring.
“I made a lot of wrong choices, and now I live with them ... I was a football player star my whole life, but I didn’t act like it, and when I lost everything, I lost who I was and the only thing that numbed it was drugs.
“There were times when I just wanted to be dead and ... I also thought I would live the rest of my life addicted to drugs, and there were points where I was willing do what I needed to live that way.”
Braidwood is a second-year apprentice carpenter and works on job sites six days a week. He trains in the gym every night and he’s also back on the football field, helping coach the Canadian Junior Football League’s Westshore Rebels in Victoria. He started doing some public speaking and he’s working with at-risk youth.
“I find it (coaching) really gratifying. I miss certain aspects of the game like the camaraderie and competing with the guys on the field,” said Braidwood.
Braidwood has been in Edmonton all week and, for the first time since his release from the Eskimos, he went to Commonwealth Stadium and visited with a few former teammates and longtime equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak. Some Eskimos players bought tickets to Friday’s fights.
“The last time I was there, I was stumbling in getting my last cheque, probably asking someone for some more pills,” said Braidwood. “It had a lot of good memories there. Going back to the stadium energized me.
“I owe the people of Edmonton a debt and I will make up for it the best that I can. Every time I get into the gym and train and get into the ring, I’m fighting for those people who I let down.”