Brandon Alexander: In My Words.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Good read, if a little bit sad.


I'm truthfully not sure how to begin here and whether this is a farewell or just a see you later to everyone in Winnipeg and Manitoba.

But, right now, I do feel that it's time for me to leave after almost 10 years. I'm going back to Orlando and hope to become an algebra teacher at a high school and start my coaching career once I get my certification to go along with my degree in sports exercise science.

I know I could be waiting for two-three years on a job but a lot of schools need English teachers, math teachers and science teachers and even though the school year has already started in the States they still need those positions and if I pass my certification, I should be OK.

Still, what I'm experiencing right now is bittersweet -- there's an excitement about what could be out there for me and, at the same time, I'm really sad to be leaving.

Ultimately, though, I'm so thankful I was able to come up here. It's been life changing.

When I got here in 2017 as a player I was accepted with open arms. I've met so many people. I've gained so many friends. But now this is me saying I'm really done playing football and I'm moving on for now.

We got two championships, the first one coming after 29 years without one. I know everyone wanted more but everybody in this province waited for so long and then we did it back-to-back. The memories will be there forever.

What's amazing is I'm a guy from Orlando, Florida, and I've now been everywhere in Manitoba, it seems like, from top to bottom. That's cool and I've been blessed to do that.

People ask me about Churchill, for example, and what there is to do up there. Remember, I'm from a place where you've got Disney World and SeaWorld. When I was in Churchill I saw seven polar bears. There aren't polar bears in Florida. We don't have the aurora borealis in Florida.

I saw Hudson Bay and I went dog sledding -- that was fire to me. I saw what the community is all about and saw the beauty in it. I saw all that land all that water and thought, 'God's been here' and it helped me feel at peace when I was up there.

That helped me, too, because it's tough for an athlete to let go sometimes and, admittedly, I've struggled with that over the last couple of years.

I had seven-slash-eight years playing here if you count the COVID year and I've done a lot -- this organization has done a lot -- in those years. I wasn't ready to stop playing when it ended in 2024, but it was also telling for me.

In 2021 I was a CFL All Star for the first time and then ended up tearing my ACL and in 2022 I made it back but only played in five games. A year later I was coming back into form and was a West Division All-Star again, so I was thinking, 'I'm back.' In 2024 I took my brace off and physically I was in a good place. But mentally, I was really out of it.

There were a lot of factors outside of football I was dealing with -- it had nothing to do with getting into trouble or anything -- but I was freshly off having a kid and it was tough on myself. I know it was tough on the mother of my child as well but I'm going to speak only on myself.

It just felt like for me everything had changed. I was still going about my job the same way, it just didn't seem like there was a lot of understanding of that. All year it felt like that. Physically, I felt great but mentally that 2024 season was one of the worst I've gone through, and it showed on the field.

I had three interceptions that year, but every single one got called back through penalties or some form of something. It was telling with what was going on in my season. I cried at the end of the season, maybe because I knew that was going to be the end. I went home at the top of 2025, the day after my son's birthday and I drove home not knowing what my football career was going to look like.

A month and a half later they told me they had come to the consensus they were not going to have me back that year. That hurt. It really hurt. I thought, 'OK, with what I dealt with in 2024 just give me one more shot to show you I'm still who I am.' Just bring me to camp and if I'm not good enough, cut me. Just put me on special teams.'

But I didn't get that chance. In their defence, and I get it, they said, 'We have too much respect for you to do that. We just want to go in a different direction.' But it still sucked to hear that. What also hurt is nobody else in the league wanted me. They had good things to say -- 'We know you can still play and we know you're a leader in the locker room, but we're already set.'

Once that happened, I honestly didn't know what to do.

That's when I called Wade Miller and asked if there was anything he could do to help me get back up to my family and he got back to me immediately and said, 'This is what we've got for you as the Community & Amateur Football Ambassador. Come back on up.' In 2025 I was active. I was in schools. I did the work. But being around the guys was very difficult because I went to battle with so many of those guys. Part of me was hoping they would say, 'Are you still able to play?' and I would have said, 'Oh yeah, let's do it.' It didn't happen.

Then this year, I was good with everything. I think I could still play but I'm good now with it never happening. That takes time to make that transition in your mind because it's one percent of one percent that have the ability to make that decision. Usually it's injury related, or you age out of a system. You've got to be a premier player to call your shot and say, 'This is when I'm retiring.'

When I went upstairs into my new role, I knew people were wondering, 'Oh, this is a guy who won a couple Grey Cups who is coming here and just go willy nilly through everything.' They really didn't know who I was. Pretty quickly they found out that I was that 'rep stealer' like Osh called me in my first camp, but I was now doing that upstairs in the community department. I've now encountered over 16,000 kids in a year and some change. My schedule wasn't set up for me; it was all me. We put the program out and then it was out to me. I just gave it my best.

I went to almost all the schools in the Seven Oaks District. I went to schools up north and in Northern Ontario like Pikangikum and Sachigo Lake. I've been to the schools in Pembina Trails, in Louis Riel School Division. Steinbach, Selkirk, Morden. I just wanted to show that the same guy you saw on the football field is the same guy now in this department.

I hope I changed some people's minds on that and whatever I put in, I hope I've left something positive behind.

I'm hoping the doors aren't all closing here. I'm hoping I've somehow done enough in this city and this province that if I ever wanted to come back, I would be accepted.

Again, this is a good-bye for now and I'm not sure if it's a farewell. But it has been memorable and it has been meaningful.

Thank you.


https://bluebombers.com/article/in-my-words

[barbk]

Its funny I was speaking with him at one tailgate party and he said he was happy living in Winnipeg and said he loved playing for the blue bombers.  Such a well nice spoken fellow and I truly enjoyed watching him play for us.  Good luck Brandon!

[BomberFan73]

Always loved you BA! 
Enjoy the next Chapter!

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Well said Brandon!   You were one of my favourite players when you were with the Bombers and I was in Calgary in 2019 to witness the Bombers finally breaking that 29 year drought!!!
You were a huge part of our D and we were feared in the CFL.   You were a huge part of that.
Good luck to you and your family as you turn the page on your CFL career as a Blue Bomber.   Good luck to you in your future pursuits whatever they may be!

[BLUEBOMBER]

We could definitely use Alexander as our safety now... Every game you would expect him to lay a big hit on a receiver.