 While attending Seaquam Secondary School in Delta, Braidwood got his start in major football competition when he attended Washington State University, making their football squad as a true freshman in 2002 (and making the conference all-freshman team).Over the course of his collegiate career, Braidwood recorded 13.5 sacks, 8.5 of which came in his senior year where he started all thirteen games and was among the top ten in the Pacific-10 conference in tackles.Braidwood was drafted first overall by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2006 Canadian College Draft.