Running back spends his days off saving puppies

He has been at it for almost three years, and not all of it is easy to look at. He has seen things he wishes he had not. He keeps going anyway, rescue after rescue, and he gives the credit to the mental toughness football built in him.

Football was his way forward long before it was his job. Money was tight at home when he was growing up, and he knew he would need a scholarship to go to school after high school, so sports became the thing that drove him. He earned a full ride to the University of North Dakota. After that, he was drafted back home to Winnipeg.

Rescue days aren't always comfortable. "I think I got hypothermia, though, I'm not gonna lie," he admits on one outing. To another new rescue he says, "You don't got to live under that couch no more."

Nellie was his first dog ever, and he rescued her himself. She was 6 weeks old, found running in the middle of the road, and he brought her home. Gunnar came next, a golden retriever whose family needed to rehome him, and Oliveira fell for him the moment they met. Two dogs share his home now, and Gunnar has a best friend in Nellie.

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He wants every dog to get a taste of the life Nellie and Gunnar have now. In the locker room, everyone knows him as the running back, and also as "that dog guy." Going back out is hard sometimes. "But I know there's dogs out there that need me," he says.

The people cheering him on keep coming back to the same few thoughts. His parents must be proud. The world could use more like him. One fan who never had a favorite athlete before says the spot is now filled, and a fellow Winnipegger is just glad to see a hometown guy doing the work.