MIKE BRADWELL
Toronto Argonauts Wide Receiver
In a three-part series, Mike describes the ups and downs of his first season of professional football in Toronto in “Road to the CFL”.
My journey to the CFL has been long and filled with many ups and downs. I grew up in Toronto playing hockey at a competitive level since I was 6 years old. I remember early Sunday mornings at the rink playing for the Leaside Kings and a tournament in Sweden while playing for North Toronto. Not until Grade 12 at Leaside High School did I decide to give football a shot. I had a group of friends on the team who convinced me to tryout because I was tall and fast and the team had no threat at receiver. I still remember being very nervous before my first game against Silverthorn Collegiate, however we ended up winning big and I had two touchdowns with over 100 yards receiving. Our school is known for hockey more than football but that year we entered the playoffs in division 1 for the first time in school history. After a first round win, we were to play a strong Northern Secondary team led by current Argo Matt Black. Unfortunately, we were beaten by a great team yet the groundwork was laid for the rest of my football career.
I decided to attend McMaster University mainly because of their renowned engineering program but also because of their dominant football team. The squad had won the four previous Yates Cups and a conversation with former head coach Greg Marshall sealed the deal for me to come and play for the Mac Marauders. My first training camp at McMaster was quite an adjustment as only one year of high school football had not prepared me very well. The demanding first year of the engineering program caused me to leave the team in order to concentrate on my academic responsibilities. I rejoined the team during winter workouts and began to adjust to the level of competition. The next year, I earned a dress roster spot and was in and out of the starting line-up as our team lost in the playoffs to the eventual Vanier Cup champion Laurier Golden Hawks.
My third year involved a coaching change at McMaster where former Argos receiver Stefan Ptaszek was hired as head coach. I was excited to learn from someone who played my position professionally but also because he was known as an offensive guru. My first year with Coach Ptaszek had ups and downs and the transition to a new offence took a toll on our team as we were upset by Queens in the first round. A fake field goal leading to a touchdown pulled off by current Argo Brad Smith sealed the win for Queens.
Going into my fourth year, I knew I had to train harder than ever before in order to get noticed by the CFL as this was my draft year. After a tough off-season, I earned the starting slotback position in training camp and scored my first and second touchdowns of my university career against Laurier in the first game. Perhaps my fondest memory of playing for McMaster was the following game where we beat the Western Mustangs and I had 3 touchdowns and 211 yards receiving, not to mention my sister’s wedding was that evening so needless to say it was a great day! Our passing offence, led by quarterback Adam Archibald, was dynamic that season. I was able to stay healthy all year and ended up leading the country in receiving yards and touchdowns. I had finally caught the attention of CFL scouts.