After an injury-riddled 2021 CFL season, Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Bralon Addison will be back at full health for training camp this year according to his head coach Orlondo Steinauer.
“Bralon will be ready to go,” Steinauer said.
Addison was on the cusp of superstardom after his breakout 2019 campaign that saw him post single-season career-highs with 95 receptions for 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns while also contributing in the ground game with 218 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries.
Addison’s play earned him both division and league all-star accolades and caught the attention of the NFL, signing a contract with the Minnesota Vikings in January 2020. He was waived by the Vikings in August of that year and opted to return to the CFL by inking a new two-year contract with the Ticats that December.
But Addison played in just three games in 2021, with a leg injury keeping him out of the lineup until early October and a hamstring setback later that same month ended his season. He did have 18 catches for 231 yards in those three games, so the hope is he will be back to his pre-pandemic form in 2022.
“Expectations are for him to make the plays that he is capable of making, and you can only do that when you are on the field,” Steinauer stressed. “But ultimately it’s not about being healthy in the beginning, but being healthy all the way through.”
After parting ways with Brandon Banks this off-season, the Ticats will need a healthy Addison for all, not just part, of the upcoming season.
Addison returns to a team that has some expectations heading into the upcoming season, at least from oddsmakers at sportsbooks in Ontario. Hamilton is near the top of the board when it comes to odds to win the East (), and isn’t much lower when you check out lines for the Grey Cup ().
