I didn’t experience overt racism growing up in Canada.

Growing up in Mississauga, Ont., my parents raised me and my brothers in good neighbourhoods. They shielded us from the experiences they faced at different times in their life. I played outside in the streets, without fear, and when my parents saw me with a football in my hands, they realized this was it.

"Play football and go pro,” I was told.

I didn’t have a second job. Football was my job.

I felt an added sense of responsibility to succeed. There were not many around like me. Starting Canadian quarterbacks in professional football were an endangered species. But a black, Canadian quarterback? If it wasn’t me, who else would pave the way? I dealt with it like I deal with everything else; one day at a time and slowly chop wood.

I began my collegiate career at Alcorn State University and then transferred after two years to the University of South Alabama. This wasn’t Mississauga. In Alabama, I heard about the black experience and I saw it in a different light. But I was an athlete. I was treated like royalty. Once in a while I’d be in a predominately white neighbourhood and I would feel the peering eyes of passers-by. Or I’d be in a convenience store and the clerk would ask one too many questions. But for the most part, I was let off the hook because I played football and in South Alabama they love their football.

I attended the 2015 NFL combine, and then Dallas Cowboys minicamp, but I wasn’t offered a contract. I came back home to the CFL.

Before then, I hadn't thought much about law enforcement.

In my first year in the CFL, during the offseason, I wanted to do more with my time. You wake up, workout, throw, and then your day is done. I had a friend who was in his 2nd year in law enforcement with the Peel Police Department back home in Mississauga. He told me to come play for their police basketball team. I was well known in the city and became a guest player for all their charity events. I got to know the men and women of the the department. I’d listen to their stories and gained great respect for the men and women who served my community.

Staff Superintendent Sean McKenna, a thirty year veteran of the department, always had my back growing up. He coached me in minor football and was a mentor to me. I told him, “I could do this job.” In my life after football, I didn’t want to sit at a desk. I wanted to be out in the community, helping the public. Supt. McKenna was ready to put a good word in for me, but cautioned I enjoy football while it lasted.

In 2019, when I was cut from the Toronto Argonauts, teams around the CFL were saying, “We already have our quarterbacks that we’ll call if an injury happens” or “you don’t help our game rule ratio so there’s no real point in having a Canadian quarterback right now.” I held a Canadian passport and I was treated differently. I didn’t agree with the politics of it. I wasn’t going to let a league that doesn’t respect its Canadian quarterback's dictate my life.

I wasn’t dreading retirement. Like I said, football was my job. At my age, if it isn’t paying you back anymore, you get another job.

As I write this now, I’m in the academy. I’m beginning my new life as an officer of the Peel Police Department.

I’ve been asked, “Do you struggle with becoming a black officer of the law at this time in history?”

What happened to George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers is nothing new to the black community. But if you haven’t walked a mile in our shoes…maybe it is. Our societies have been set up to disadvantage minority populations and the world is seeing, once again, the full force of that anger and frustration. You might be turning on your TV now, but we’ve been watching for a long time. We have unarmed black citizens murdered and no justice for them time and time again.

The badge is tarnished. When people call the police, they have exhausted all their options. When you show up, that person could be having the worst day of their life. Your job is to fix it. Not cause more harm.

So you’re asking, “Have I chosen a side?”

I stand beside my black brothers and sisters. That’s the side I’m on. Law and order? The “letter of the law” involves the black community. If it is protected correctly, it should fit every race, gender, or creed. If there is no justice, there can be no peace. That is the side I’m on.

I remember Supt. McKenna telling me as I grew throughout my football career, “Be the best Brandon you can be.”

I am becoming a Peel Police Officer because it makes me a better me. I enjoy helping the public. I will set a good example in my community. You either get right or you get left. I’m going to change the perception of the department. 

I’ve been trailblazing all my life.