Defensive tackle Tristan Bredin, who started playing football when he was 12 years old, has always been a difference-maker on the football field. He was Murdoch's Defensive MVP in his senior year in the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL) in 2014, showcasing an impressive motor for a 6'4", 360-pounder. He tallied 40 tackles that year and earned Player of the Game honours during the Football Canada Cup in the summer, along with a Team Canada nod for the 2015 International Bowl.

The Manitoba Bisons secured his commitment in the fall of 2015, and for four seasons he was a constant on the Herd's defensive line. Bredin was looking forward to taking the next step in his athletic and academic journey following the 2018 season. He was settling into a leadership role and had plenty to look forward to, but one night, everything changed in the blink of an eye.

Bredin, a native of Anola, Manitoba, was driving on the highway and simultaneously hit three deer at the same time. He thought he was fine after the accident but knew something wasn't right after he passed out in the shower when he got home and lost his memory for roughly six months. After seeing a doctor, he was diagnosed with a severe concussion and had to drop out of school, while also being told that he couldn't play football anymore.

Bredin was "shell-shocked" by the news. He couldn't drive, go out in public or do much of anything. He was no longer able to do what he loved most and couldn't physically compete or be part of a team setting. Because of this, his weight ballooned as he wasn't part of the rigid structure that football provided.

Bredin encountered further adversity in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the toughest months of the coronavirus, he was living with his girlfriend and the pair sat at home and ordered out a lot as there wasn't anything else going on. During this period, his weight continued to spiral out of control.

The heaviest he got to was 505 pounds in November of 2020, and it caused him to get worried. Before he went to bed, he'd have difficulty breathing or chest pain, which was a huge warning sign. Nonetheless, he carried on.

The following month, Bredin hit rock bottom. He was still struggling with his weight, not playing sports or exercising and also had to deal with "a pretty rough breakup."

"I think a lot of that had to do with not having football in my life honestly," he says. "It was something to motivate me to do better. There was a lot of complacency. It wasn't a good period at all."

A chance encounter changes everything

Sometimes, people come back into your life at just the right time, and thankfully that's exactly what happened for the former Murdoch standout.

Bredin was working for Impact Security when he had a chance encounter at a Superstore with Bisons offensive line coach and special teams coordinator Ryan Karhut. The two went way back, and as a former offensive lineman who had to walk around at around 300 pounds during his playing days, Karhut was able to relate to Bredin's struggles with weight gain and loss, and he also believed in him. He could see that he was ready and wanting help and wanted to be an ally in any way possible.

"I think, for someone who has struggled with their weight, it was easy for me to connect with him a little on what he was struggling with. We probably talked for 25 minutes, maybe more, as I stood in line," says Karhut.

"I basically told him my struggle, how I was able to change and that if he ever wanted help, I would be there. I told him I missed him and that if he was ever serious about it and put the work in, that I would make sure there was a spot for him on the team again. I even tried to encourage him to return as an offensive lineman. I know what a tremendous athlete he was, and that he would be successful on either side of the ball. It was a crazy talk, and one of my favourite moments ever as a coach."

The conversation had a lasting impact on Bredin, who made it his mission to return to the gridiron, no matter what it took.

"As soon as the breakup happened and I decided to go on a healthy journey, football was always in the back of my mind and was always the driving factor more than anything. When you're done playing football, it's the only thing you think about is playing football again," he says.

"It was constantly on my mind every day since leaving. There's a void you can't fill. A lot of it is being with the boys and having that team aspect and the competitiveness and staying in shape. It's all-around literally the greatest thing that you could do. That really motivated me to put in the work every single day."

Nutrition and cardio the focus

Bredin was always super strong. During his playing days when he was roughly 430 pounds, he was able to squat over 600 pounds and strict press 340. He knew that the strength would be there, and chose to focus on getting his cardio up, and improving his nutrition.

"What I started out doing was I looked at my diet. That was the biggest thing. I cut out all carbs and stopped drinking sugary drinks. I only drank water and I made sure to hydrate properly and I fixed my sleep schedule, which was a big part of it. Portion control, calories in versus calories out. For the first month I was putting on a garbage bag and three sweaters and four pairs of sweats and I was in my room doing burpees and mountain climbers and all this stuff to sweat and get out water weight."

Next up was running. He'd always enjoyed pounding the pavement, but because of his weight, he'd gotten shin splits in the past. Instead of jumping right into things, he started taking walks at night. That slowly progressed to jogging and seeing how far he could push himself.

"The competitive nature of being able to track your numbers and see your progress in numerical fashion was really nice. I would download my favourite album on Spotify or a mix of music that I was listening to and I would go out every single day for three kilometres. When I was working from home, I would take my lunch breaks and I would go for 22 minutes or just at night. It became a nice escape, a way to see nature and a way to push myself."

Admittedly, the weight loss journey was a struggle at the beginning, as being self-motivated and pushing yourself, especially during a pandemic, can be a difficult thing. On top of that, Bredin was fighting a separate battle that was equally challenging.

"I've always struggled with my mental health," he says. "I'm very open about my depression and I have very bad anxiety, so obviously in that darker moment in my life I was very depressed and so you're kind of fighting that battle, and then I'm heavy and I'm fighting that battle and those things are obviously very linked."

In those particularly dark times, Bredin leaned on his support systems. He would send updates to his close friend and former Bisons and Murdoch teammate Jared Lazarenko, as well as his mom and Karhut, who all helped him stay motivated.

"He was sending me progress pictures quite often," says Karhut. "I often replayed it in my head. I got emotional every time he'd update me on his journey. It was incredible to watch the work and effort he put in."

When things got especially bleak, Bredin thought of his teammate Brock Gowanlock, a CFL Draft pick of the Montreal Alouettes who shed close to 100 pounds between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, dropping from 310 to 230.

"Brock was probably one of my biggest inspirations for sure. I've told him this many times, but seeing Brock lose that weight when I was here, I was like oh, you can do that. It's possible if you just really stick to it," recalled the defensive tackle.

"Brock told me every day that 'it's hard, but I just did it.' I always admired that. Brock actually had a quote that I repeated to myself a lot when I was working out. He said that 'when I was heavy, I realized that if I was in a life-or-death situation hanging from a cliff, I could never pull myself up and save myself.' I thought about that all the time and thought it was a really valid point. You want to be in a state where if something happens, you're okay. I don't know why but that always stuck with me."

Returning to UM

By the spring of 2021, thanks to lots of running and many burpees and push-ups (Bredin never went to a public gym during the process), the charismatic athlete was ready to come back to school and play for UM again. He updated Karhut, who reached out to Bisons head coach Brian Dobie. Not long after, Bredin, down well over 200 pounds, was an active member of the team's spring camp and by July he'd lost 235 pounds.

"The decision [to return] was honestly made on the first day of spring camp," he says. "That was my last moment of okay, if this isn't what I want then I have to back out. I put the pads back on for the first day and after that there was no question that I had to be back. You step foot on that field and all those feelings just came back right away like it was never gone. It felt so good."

With the help of defensive line coaches Scott Barbour and Shaq Armstrong, Bredin adjusted his playing style to better suit his trimmed down frame.

"Honestly it's so different now at a different weight trying to play the game. There was a little bit of a rough patch and a transitional period. I'm not a 440-pound guy who can stand and take a double team. I'm 268 pounds. If a 300-pound offensive lineman is pushing me, I'm getting pushed a little bit more," he noted.  

"Learning a bit more technique, it's been great having coach Barbour and coach Shaq to really help me change the way I'm playing the game to help fit my body type better. They changed up simple things like my stance, it's a little more narrow now, and my technique like using my hands more, because I can't just rely on having all of that weight. It's about being more athletic and more agile."

Come early September, Bredin had earned a spot on Manitoba's travelling roster, and was in the lineup for the team's season opener at home against Regina. It was a very emotional moment, and the climax to a three-year journey that had plenty of ups and downs.

"I definitely cried. It was actually super weird. The first home game, I was sitting in my locker before the game, and I got a text from my mom who always texts me before games. She said 'I love you, congats.' I look at my phone after the game and she had sent me the date of my accident where I hit those deer and had to drop out of school and quit football. It was the same day that we played our home game here. I got back to my car and I was emotional. It was really crazy to see in three years the complete 180. It really put everything into perspective."

A powerful message

Bredin has plenty of takeaways from the whirlwind that was his life between 2018 to 2021. One of the more important conclusions he came to, is the importance of communication and transparency when dealing with body dysmorphia and mental health struggles. It's not something that anyone should have to fight on their own, and that's why he's fully transparent with his story.

"Growing up, I always kept my mental health struggles inside. Getting older, and learning that if you share your story, even if you think it's insignificant or doesn't matter, it really could just be that one thing someone needs to hear to help them out of a dark place or a bad time. Especially as men I think that's something that needs to be talked about."

His message to those who are also dealing with the struggles of weight loss, is "to be honest with yourself and know that it's you versus you."

"It's not about seeing a body on TV that you like or friends that look better than you. It's about what did I do yesterday to get to my goal and what can I do tomorrow to get to that goal, and every day just pushing yourself to be better. It's not going to be easy, fast or fun but at the end of the day you'll always have that to look back on and to be able to say that I did that."