REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN - NOVEMBER 20: Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Dakota Prukop #12 scores his second touchdown of the game against the Toronto Argonauts during the 109th Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium on November 20, 2022 in Regina, Saskatchewan. (Photo by Thomas Skrlj/CFL)
To many, it was the most surprising moment of Grey Cup week.
When the Toronto Argonauts depth chart was released for the championship game, a relatively unknown name appeared on it; one that would lead to much conversation in the hours leading up to kickoff.
A raw rookie, with just one CFL game of experience, would be suiting up in three-down football’s biggest showcase.
It didn’t phase defensive tackle Jared Brinkman whatsoever.
“I was just excited,” he told Argonauts.ca. “On the Sunday after the Eastern Final (Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach) Coach (Corey) Mace and (Assistant General Manager) Vince Magri talked to me and told me that there was a possibility I could see some action. I was super-excited.”
Mace officially gave Brinkman the good news at a practice that week.
“It was on the sideline and I kind of threw him,” Mace recalled with a smile to Argonauts.ca. “I said I’m going to need you to dominate in the run game and I’ll never forget it; he looked at me – it was the middle of practice and it was freezing – and he said ‘Coach, you know I’m never going to disappoint you.’ He didn’t, he did a great job.”
In his one regular season game, the finale against Montreal, Brinkman showed what he was capable of doing. Despite never having played a game with the yard off the ball, the three-down neophyte was consistently able to reset the line of scrimmage against a team well versed in running the football.
Dressing him in the Grey Cup game may have been a bit of a gamble, but one that paid off.
“The Bombers are a running team, specifically inside runs,” Mace explained. “Whether it was the tackle for loss that he had or eliminating running lanes and making the ball bounce to our speed on the outside, he does everything in the run game that you like; and the kid is as strong an ox.”
His strength is something that has allowed Brinkman to stand apart from his peers. While he says he doesn’t lift really heavy weights these days, when coerced by Argonauts.ca he admitted that at university he bench pressed 525 pounds.
Brinkman expected to play 5-10 snaps in the championship game, but it was closer to 20. One of those plays was a first quarter tackle of Bomber running back Brady Oliveira on a second-and-four that forced a punt; a huge play as Winnipeg was just beyond field goal range.
On that play the Northern Iowa product showed why the Argos are so excited about him. He beat the Bomber guard to the inside, then was quick enough to get behind his opponent and reach out and grab Oliveira, using his strength and a little help from Jonathan Jones to bring down the back at the line of scrimmage.
The phone conversation with Brinkman was conducted after class; he had just concluded his daily grind as a substitute teacher in Bettendorf, Iowa, located along the banks of the Mississippi river and part of the Davenport Quad Cities area.
On this day the 24-year old was teaching pre-kindergarten kids. He loves putting his university major to work, but like everyone affiliated with the team, can’t wait to begin defence of the Grey Cup.
The teacher is also a good student. His dedication to detail and desire to learn a new game in a new league helped him immensely.
“I went up there, put my head down and went to work,” he said. “After a week, a week-and-a-half, I had a pretty good grip on the whole playbook. I’m a guy that wants to know what I’m doing on the field. The team has to trust me. I don’t want to let them down in any way, so I got up there and hammered the playbook.”
His work ethic has been noticed and appreciated by both teammates and coaches. Mace is excited to have Brinkman at his disposal for a full season.
“There’s so much untapped,” said Mace. “We know he’s going to be one of the better defenders in the league in stopping the run. To see how he can disrupt a game, you’ve seen flashes of it, but we want to see more. The ceiling for him is invisible.”
The Iowa City native is 6’2”, 290 pounds, the same weight at which he played during his college career. Often an American will report for his second CFL season considerably lighter, intentionally dropping some weight given the additional running done by linemen in this game. The 2016 high-school state heavyweight wrestling champion doesn’t expect to look much different this season.
Neither does the group at defensive tackle.
Brinkman, along with returnees Shawn Oakman, Dewayne Hendrix, Sam Acheampong, Deionte Knight and Damontre Moore, bring outstanding depth to the spot. The competition for playing time will be intense but the depth of talent makes this one of the strongest positional groups on the team.