Giulio Caravatta speaks of O.J. Brigance with the highest praise, echoing sentiments shared universally.
Brigance died Monday, 19 years after his ALS diagnosis. He was 56.
He served in the Baltimore Ravens’ front office since 2004 as director of player development and senior advisor. He won a Super Bowl as a Ravens linebacker and special teams standout in 2000 during his seven-year NFL career.
Prior to his NFL tenure, Brigance played five seasons in the CFL. He capped a two-year stint with the Baltimore Stallions with a Grey Cup victory in 1995—making him the only player to win both a Super Bowl and a Grey Cup for teams representing the same city—after beginning his professional career with three seasons as a B.C. Lion.
Brigance was part of a highly successful Lions rookie class in 1991, alongside running backs Jon Volpe and Sean Millington, slotbacks Matt Clark and Mike Trevathan, and quarterback Caravatta.
“He was a class act,” Caravatta, now a Lions radio analyst on 730 CKNW alongside Bob Marjanovich, said Tuesday. “He was obviously a really good player, but he was also always really positive, always with a smile on his face.”
“Just a really good guy. Everything you’re reading about him is accurate. He was just one of those guys who was solid, solid, solid. He never had a bad day.”
Caravatta made his first CFL start on Oct. 21, 1995, in Baltimore. It was the fifth CFL season for the SFU alumnus from Etobicoke, Ont., at a time when Canadian quarterbacks rarely saw playing time. The Lions fell to Brigance and the Stallions 28-26.
“I just remember a couple of interactions on the field that game—him smiling at me, winking at me,” Caravatta recalled. “I have nothing but great things to say about him. He was a really, really good human.”
“In recent years, I’d hear from NFL scouts up here who’d run into him,” Caravatta added. “I’d ask how he was doing, and they’d always say, ‘He has an amazing attitude,’ before moving on.”
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti stated Monday that Brigance’s “infectious smile and the inspirational way he lived and played endeared him to everyone he touched, both inside our building and across this city. This is a tremendously sad day for Baltimore.”
When Ray Lewis received the Lamar Hunt Trophy after the Ravens won the 2013 AFC title, he looked at Brigance and told him, “You’re my greatest motivation.”
After losing his ability to speak, Brigance used eye-tracking technology to communicate, and numerous Ravens have shared stories of him sending them encouraging notes during difficult times.
Such stories abound.
Diagnosed with ALS in 2007 at age 37, Brigance was given two to five years to live. According to the Mayo Clinic, ALS is a nervous system disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to progressive muscle weakness.
ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often called Lou Gehrig’s disease after the New York Yankees legend diagnosed in 1939 who died in 1941 at age 37.
There is no cure for ALS. For more information, visit the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of British Columbia website.
Got to know OJ as a player with BC Lions and we would always connect at Super Bowl when Ravens were in it. Epitome of class and courage. RIP OJ https://t.co/S35MizKKXp
— Bob “The Moj” Marjanovich (@The_Real_Moj) August 17, 2026
“As great a player as O.J. Brigance was, he was an even better individual,” former B.C. teammate and current Lions director of community relations Jamie Taras said in a team statement Monday. “He had such positive energy about him, no matter the day or circumstance. O.J. was someone everyone rallied around. He had that kind of presence and was a terrific teammate loved by everyone in the organization.”
“Our thoughts are with his wife Chanda and their entire family at this difficult time.”
Born in Houston and a product of Rice University, Brigance recorded 112 tackles (92 defensive, 20 special teams) as a Lions rookie in 1991. He was B.C.’s nominee for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, while fellow rookies Volpe and Clark were nominated for Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Canadian, respectively.
He recorded 20 sacks for the Lions in 1993.
He signed with the expansion Baltimore Stallions as a free agent ahead of the 1994 season. Brigance told The Vancouver Sun in March 1994: “My decision to come here instead had nothing to do with actual numbers… it came down to other benefits. The Lions were pretty good to me and I love the city. [B.C. GM] Eric Tillman did everything in his power to keep me. I’m a lot better off living and playing in the States, what with the dollar difference and income taxes. And there’s an excitement here and plenty of business opportunities.”
The Lions defeated the Stallions 26-23 in the 1994 Grey Cup at B.C. Place, with Lui Passaglia kicking a 38-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
Baltimore won the Grey Cup the following year in Regina, defeating the Calgary Stampeders 37-20. The franchise folded in December 1995.