BRALON ADDISON SEIZES OPP ORTUNITY TO CATCH ON WITH TICATS.
Too often in his professional football career, Bralon Addison has been an afterthought, a practice roster kind of guy.
It’s hard to figure out how it happens to a former allstate high school quarterback who, when given an opportunity to catch a football this season, has shown he’s one of the Canadian Football League’s elite receivers. All he needed was a chance.
Cut by the NFL’S Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears. Ignored by the Toronto Argonauts. Way down the list for the Hamilton Tiger- Cats for a few weeks in 2018. But when the Ticats gave him an opportunity late last season, Addison showed how dynamic he can be. In less than a year, he’s gone from the practice roster to a star — a huge playmaker among a talented group of Hamilton pass catchers.
“It’s all about seizing an opportunity,” said Addison. “At one point in my life, after being cut so many times, I wanted to give up. My dad ( Julius) was on me hard, he was pushing me, he told me to keep at it. I’ve been the underdog since I started playing at the pro level. I want to prove people wrong, show that I can play. I’ve taken great strides, I’ve continued to get better. I just want to get out on the field and let it show.”
On Sunday in the Grey Cup, the 26- year- old Addison is hoping to make a difference against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Look at the eye- popping 2019 stats: 95 catches for 1,236 yards, with seven touchdowns. Another 218 yards rushing, with a touchdown.
Let’s backtrack. Addison was a star quarterback at Hightower High School in Missouri City, Tex., then went to the University of Oregon as a receiver.
“When colleges were recruiting me, I told them I wasn’t interested in playing quarterback because I knew the chances of me being a professional quarterback were really slim,” said Addison. “There are, I think, maybe three guys in the NFL and three in the CFL playing quarterback at 5- foot-10 or shorter.”
He tore his ACL in 2014, but pushed ahead. He was signed by the Broncos in 2016 and waived in August. Signed by the Bears late that year, he was waived in May 2017.
“With the Broncos, I didn’t get much of a shot — they already had a deep receiving corps and had just come off a Super Bowl run,” said Addison. “I think I ended up being just a ( training) camp body. When I went to Chicago, I thought I did pretty well — they had a couple of coaching staff changes, they wanted to bring in their guys. I got the short end of the stick and ended up in the CFL.”
Signed by the Argos in 2018, he was released last August.
“I guess they had their guys already,” said Addison. “I sat on their ( practice roster) for 10 weeks. Before the Labour Day game, Duron Carter got released from Sask, they wanted to sign him and they let me go. So I ended up in Hamilton (a week later).”
With the Ticats, it was more of the same, until a bunch of receiver injuries gave him an opportunity. He had seven catches for 103 yards in a Nov. 3 game against Montreal — leading into that, he’d caught just one pass. In his team’s two playoff games last season — against B.C., then Ottawa – he had 17 catches for 253 yards.
“I was up for one game, I took a punt back ( for a touchdown) that was called back (because of a penalty),” he said. “The next week I was back down on the PR again. So it was kind of like déjà vu. At that point, I was waiting for them to send me home, not give me a shot. A bittersweet thing — I think it was four guys got injured so I got my opportunity to play. I was friends with those guys, I was sad for them. The only way I was going to get an opportunity was for them to get hurt. I think it was just God’s plan.”
Addison took nothing for granted. He went to Hamilton’s training camp this year ready to put in the work and earn a starting position.
“I still looked at myself as an underdog,” he said. “I was telling some of the guys that I truly believed I needed to prove I belonged on this team. It was such a short time that I came in and showed some things last year, some people might have thought it was a fluke. I believe you can’t get complacent. That moment you do, when you are too satisfied, that’s when your career starts to go down.”
From an athletic family — his mom Sonya was a track star and played volleyball, his dad Julius played football, basketball and baseball — Addison stuck with his passion for football through bumps along the way in his journey.
“( My dad) drives trucks for living, he knows all about hard work,” said Addison. “Even when I think I’m working hard, he’s on me to work harder. He records the games. I could have 150 yards and two touchdowns, he tells me I can do better. He keeps me grounded.”