A Long Way Back

One year ago many draft experts questioned Sam Bradford's decision to stay in school for his junior season. Coming off a Heisman trophy winning year and a trip to the BCS National Championship game, Bradford seemed destined for greatness at the NFL level. Rather then chasing the money, Bradford felt that coming back to school would allow him and his teammates one last opportunity to get back to the championship game, this time winning it. His choice seemed out of the ordinary yet admirable.

The admirable decision quickly turned into a nightmare. In the first game against BYU Bradford hurt his right shoulder and had to leave the game. Three weeks later he attempted a comeback only to re-injure it against Texas. Both games resulted in Oklahoma losses and after the second injury Bradford's season was over.

Since then, Bradford has been training and readying himself for the upcoming NFL Draft. At February's NFL Combine, Bradford weighed in at an impressive 236 pounds to go along with his 6-4 frame. He had presumably taken care of his label as a frail Quarterback (In college he was closer to 210 pounds.) This past week Bradford underwent one of the last stages of the pre-draft process as NFL executives made their way to the University of Oklahoma's Pro Day. From all reports Bradford shined. He answered all questions about his right shoulder as he passed the ball with great arm strength to go along with his already great touch and accuracy. Scouts agreed that he had finally made it all the way back to his pre-injury form.

For the past year Bradford has listened to the questions about his decision to return to school. He claims he would make the same decision if he could do it all over. At this point however, none of that matters. Bradford has shown unbelievable determination and drive on his trail back to the top. Right now he is the heavy favorite to be the number 1 overall pick on April 22nd in New York City. He will be going to a team that has won a combined 6 games in the past 3 seasons. For Bradford, however, rebuilding the St. Louis Rams will not be too great a challenge. He has rebuilt his right arm and his draft stock so rebuilding a football team seems like a logical step 3.