One of the cofounders of high school football in St. Albert has died.
Robert George “Bob” Brayman died in Kelowna Aug. 20 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 77.
A long-time resident of St. Albert, Brayman was one of the founders of the St. Albert Storm, which was ancestor of all of St. Albert’s current high school football teams, said former St. Albert Gazette sports editor Jeff Hansen.
“When you though of Bob Brayman, you thought of the St. Albert Storm.”
Brayman was a Renaissance man who could go from raunchy one-liners one minute to Shakespearean sonnets the next, said Storm alumni and family friend Trevor Lovig. He went out his way to teach his players about respect, grace and humility, and helped keep many youths off of dark paths.
Hansen said many in the St. Albert sporting world grieved at the news of Brayman’s passing.
“For a lot of us, we are better people because we had the opportunity to soak in Bob and his personality,” he said.
The “gentle man”
Brayman grew up in Oakville, Ont., showing a knack for football, basketball, track and kayaking. He later earned his teaching degree, specializing in English.
Diane Brayman, Brayman’s widow, said the two of them met on a blind date set up by Brayman’s sister, Heather. The two of them and their sons later settled in St. Albert, where Brayman would spend his career teaching at W.D. Cuts and Bellerose.
“He was a gentle guy at heart, but he had a loud bark,” Diane said.
At school, Brayman was known for his ability to spot students in trouble and guide them onto the right path, Diane said. He would sometimes pretend to be grouchy (“Be quiet, or I’ll rip your hearts out!” was something he’d often say), but his students knew he was joking.
At home, Brayman was a true “gentle man” – an excellent listener who was proud of his sons, Diane continued. Family members recalled how they would often see Brayman sprawled on his side dubbing rock music records from the St. Albert Public Library onto cassette, or watching football on TV as he ironed and starched his shirts. He would often sketch plays he saw on TV onto whatever piece of paper he could find while ironing – even, in one case, his son's homework.
Diane said Brayman was a great lover of food, wine, art and cheese, and had a copious amount of the latter in the fridge at all times. He was an avid reader, and would read three newspapers every morning.
Father to his men
Diane said Larry Olexiuk (namesake of St. Albert’s Larry Olexiuk Field) recruited Brayman as head coach back when they formed the St. Albert Storm in 1986.
The Storm was the start of high-school football in St. Albert, Lovig said – prior to it, local youths had to move to Edmonton if they wanted to score touchdowns after junior high. The team became a powerhouse under Brayman, winning many city championships and reaching the provincial finals several times.
Diane said Brayman was always very excitable during a game, limping up and down on the sidelines shouting at his team. His knees eventually got so bad that the players had to carry him off the field because he couldn’t walk. (He switched to coaching girls’ basketball soon after.)
“It was very important for him that his players showed sportsmanship,” Diane said – that meant no skipping class, no partying in the end-zone, and no disrespecting the referee.
“Teams were supposed to exhibit class.”
Lovig said players in the huddle with Brayman could expect to hear about music, literature and sport interspersed with sometimes-raunchy catch phrases, one of the more printable of which was, “Let’s lock and load, boys.”
Brayman was such an effective coach because he really cared about the players under his care, said Storm alumnus and Sturgeon Spirits coach Chad Hill. To him, football was not just a sport, but also a way to become a better human being.
“Bob was always a true standard for class,” Hill said.
Brayman coached the Storm and Bellerose Bulldogs football and basketball teams for many years before retiring to B.C. in 2014.
Lovig said he and about 30 other Storm alumni spoke with Brayman about a month ago by Zoom.
“It was a perfect Bob Brayman discussion,” he said, with fathers, coaches, doctors, teachers and firefighters all brought together to talk, laugh and cry about a whole range of topics.
Dozens of Brayman’s students have carried forward his lessons in their lives, and many stayed in touch with him and each other decades later, Lovig said. Brayman shaped the Storm into a family, and “Bob was the father of that family.”
“A great coach will never be measured by wins and losses ... (but) by the impact he made on his player’s lives,” Lovig said.
“The ripples of Bob’s impacts are going to last generations.”
Brayman is survived by his widow Diane, sons Chris and Graham, sister Heather, and four grandchildren. The family planned to hold a celebration of Brayman’s life once pandemic-related restrictions lift, and asked those who wished to honour Brayman to donate to their local homeless or women’s shelter.
