Bradley rings a bell
Bradley rings a bell
GERRY PRINCE, EDMONTON SUN
Mike Bradley was a touch groggy following last Friday's win over the B.C. Lions. The Edmonton Eskimos running back/return man had his bell rung during the game and figured he was suffering the effects of a concussion afterward.
Still, the blow did not obliterate the memory of Bradley's 67-yard kickoff return which set up the Esks' first touchdown at B.C. Place Stadium.
The keys to return were having Ed Hervey drop back with Bradley and faking a reverse to the speedster Hervey.
"It's something we'd been working," explained Bradley, who had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown versus Winnipeg and made some noise as a return man last season.
"We knew having Ed out on the field would come to their attention. That's a position Ed has never been in before.
"To have Ed standing there on the front side, they're automatically thinking reverse. He ran by me and everybody just kind of folded in and it turns into a foot race for me."
Scott Robinson and Gilles Lezi chipped in with a couple of blocks that sprang Bradley, allowing him to race down the field before being bull-dogged by a gang of B.C. tacklers.
RUNNER-UP FOR HONOUR
Although the run wasn't enough to earn the University of Waterloo product CFL special-teams player of the week honours, the return didn't go unnoticed. Bradley was runner-up to Toronto return whiz Bashir Levingston.
At five-foot-eight, 205 pounds, Bradley is scarcely your prototypical CFLer, let alone return man or running back.
"Mike is a truly gifted athlete," observed head coach Tom Higgins. "When you give him a little bit of a crease, he's going to take it.
"He's defeated all the odds. They probably told him he was too small to play high school, probably too small to play university (football) and definitely too small to play professionally."
A three-time all Canadian, Bradley signed with the Esks as a free agent in 2002 and has worked his way up the ladder.
Used primarily as a special teamer during his rookie season, the 25-year-old has paid his dues and is getting more touches as a running back and a returner.
"He's always working on staying in shape," said Higgins. "All he has been is very patient waiting for an opportunity.
"I'm not sure which coach actually suggested we put him back and get him a kickoff or two. That suggestion last year paid off huge dividends against Winnipeg."
STUDY IN CONTRAST
Bradley's running mate on the return team is Winston October. The pair are a study in contrast. October is an east-west runner who likes to finesse his way up field, while Bradley is a north-south type who is looking for daylight.
"He can run," Campbell said of Bradley. "As a kickoff returner, he'll always run full speed. Winston is not a very fast guy as far as top-end, blazing speed but he always goes full speed.
"A guy like Mike or Winston, if you miss them, he's going to get through there fast."
LATE HITS: D-lineman Dorian Boose is the only non-starter this week, according to Higgins, as Boose is being hampered by an abdominal strain ... DB Donny Brady watched practice with an ice-pack on his right knee yesterday after hurting it in the B.C. game, but he is expected to play this week ... Kicker/punter Sean Fleming is out of town on business so No. 3 quarterback Jason Johnson filled in, simulating kickoffs by throwing the ball down field ... Rookie offensive lineman Amar Sanghera was absent from yesterday's practice after coming down with food poisoning ... RB Troy Mills is scheduled to have the screws removed from his left ankle later this week. Mills broke his ankle and tore his ligaments in the Esks' first pre-season game.
GERRY PRINCE, EDMONTON SUN
Mike Bradley was a touch groggy following last Friday's win over the B.C. Lions. The Edmonton Eskimos running back/return man had his bell rung during the game and figured he was suffering the effects of a concussion afterward.
Still, the blow did not obliterate the memory of Bradley's 67-yard kickoff return which set up the Esks' first touchdown at B.C. Place Stadium.
The keys to return were having Ed Hervey drop back with Bradley and faking a reverse to the speedster Hervey.
"It's something we'd been working," explained Bradley, who had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown versus Winnipeg and made some noise as a return man last season.
"We knew having Ed out on the field would come to their attention. That's a position Ed has never been in before.
"To have Ed standing there on the front side, they're automatically thinking reverse. He ran by me and everybody just kind of folded in and it turns into a foot race for me."
Scott Robinson and Gilles Lezi chipped in with a couple of blocks that sprang Bradley, allowing him to race down the field before being bull-dogged by a gang of B.C. tacklers.
RUNNER-UP FOR HONOUR
Although the run wasn't enough to earn the University of Waterloo product CFL special-teams player of the week honours, the return didn't go unnoticed. Bradley was runner-up to Toronto return whiz Bashir Levingston.
At five-foot-eight, 205 pounds, Bradley is scarcely your prototypical CFLer, let alone return man or running back.
"Mike is a truly gifted athlete," observed head coach Tom Higgins. "When you give him a little bit of a crease, he's going to take it.
"He's defeated all the odds. They probably told him he was too small to play high school, probably too small to play university (football) and definitely too small to play professionally."
A three-time all Canadian, Bradley signed with the Esks as a free agent in 2002 and has worked his way up the ladder.
Used primarily as a special teamer during his rookie season, the 25-year-old has paid his dues and is getting more touches as a running back and a returner.
"He's always working on staying in shape," said Higgins. "All he has been is very patient waiting for an opportunity.
"I'm not sure which coach actually suggested we put him back and get him a kickoff or two. That suggestion last year paid off huge dividends against Winnipeg."
STUDY IN CONTRAST
Bradley's running mate on the return team is Winston October. The pair are a study in contrast. October is an east-west runner who likes to finesse his way up field, while Bradley is a north-south type who is looking for daylight.
"He can run," Campbell said of Bradley. "As a kickoff returner, he'll always run full speed. Winston is not a very fast guy as far as top-end, blazing speed but he always goes full speed.
"A guy like Mike or Winston, if you miss them, he's going to get through there fast."
LATE HITS: D-lineman Dorian Boose is the only non-starter this week, according to Higgins, as Boose is being hampered by an abdominal strain ... DB Donny Brady watched practice with an ice-pack on his right knee yesterday after hurting it in the B.C. game, but he is expected to play this week ... Kicker/punter Sean Fleming is out of town on business so No. 3 quarterback Jason Johnson filled in, simulating kickoffs by throwing the ball down field ... Rookie offensive lineman Amar Sanghera was absent from yesterday's practice after coming down with food poisoning ... RB Troy Mills is scheduled to have the screws removed from his left ankle later this week. Mills broke his ankle and tore his ligaments in the Esks' first pre-season game.
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