Tulsa World: The toast of New York

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The toast of New York
OU quarterback Sam Bradford and the two other Heisman Trophy candidates are in the spotlight.

Heisman Trophy candidates Sam Bradford (left) of Oklahoma and Colt McCoy of Texas pose in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center as they toured parts of midtown Manhattan on Friday, the eve of the award presentation in New York City. Craig Ruttle/For the Tulsa World

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 12/13/2008 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 12/13/2008 2:37 AM

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has a vote in this year’s Heisman race. Sam Bradford was asked if it would be OK for Tebow to vote for himself. Read Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog and listen to Bradford’s answer.

NEW YORK — Martha Bradford adores watching her son play football at the University of Oklahoma. It seems life can't get any better when 85,000 Sooner fans are jumping around all because your only child is tossing touchdown passes like gumballs at a parade.

But oh, what she wouldn't give to put little Sam on her lap and read him a bedtime story, kiss him on the cheek and pull the covers over his shoulders just one more time.

"Sometimes," she says, her voice cracking a bit, "you just have to pinch yourself and realize what's happening. It's just going so fast. I don't know if I'm taking it all in."

When Sam Bradford turned 21 last month, his mom dug an old camera out of the closet, only to discover it no longer worked. So this weekend, as her son braces himself for the possibility of an over-the-top life of a Heisman Trophy winner, she bought a new camera to take to the Nokia Theater in Times Square.

"Oh my gosh," she says, "we're so excited."

All of college football is excited for this weekend. Three of the country's finest quarterbacks — Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy and Florida's Tim Tebow — are finalists, but only one gets gridiron immortality.

"Every kid," said Bradford, "has done the Heisman pose at least once."

Sam and his mother came to the Big Apple last spring, but this is the first trip for his dad, Kent.

"How proud am I?" echoed Kent Bradford. "Well, I'm awfully proud of him. I don't know how to quite quantify that. I am probably as proud as I can be of him. He is a fine young man."

It didn't happen by accident. In watching Sam Bradford mature — from freewheeling high school recruit who liked football but loved hockey, basketball and golf into a Heisman frontrunner and engineer of the game's best offense — it becomes apparent that Kent and Martha Bradford could collaborate on a parenting best-seller: "Raising Sam: How we built the perfect quarterback and gentleman."

Bradford said being an only child made him "really close" to his parents.

"I'm very thankful for the parents I have because without them I wouldn't be here today," Bradford said Friday during a press stop at the New York Hilton. "They took me to practice and they took me to games and never once did they say, 'No, we're not going to that tournament,' or, 'We're not going to go to that game.' No matter if it was 4 in the morning for a hockey game, they were there to take me."

OU head coach Bob Stoops liked Bradford's upside when he committed to OU in 2005 out of Putnam City North. But, he admits, he had no idea the depth of the person he was getting. He shows his appreciation whenever he sees Bradford's mom and dad.

"I told them, 'He's a great example of great parenting,' " Stoops said. "I call him the Big Easy because no matter where he's at, it looks easy to him. First time up here talking (in front of the press), I'm sure it wasn't easy for him, but it comes across that way. He's on ESPN after the game and you'd have thought he was one of those guys that does it every day. He just — there's a lot to that guy. And to me, it always reflects back on parents."

Bradford is a sophomore on the football team and a junior academically. He keeps a 3.95 GPA in finance and wants to be a corporate lawyer. He's also projected by Scouts Inc. analyst Todd McShay, an ESPN contributor, as the No. 1 QB in the 2009 NFL Draft and a potential top-five pick.

To get there, Bradford needs to ask the NFL's College Advisory Committee for a draft evaluation. That process will begin, he said, when he returns home from his excellent adventure. (On Thursday in Florida, he won the Davey O'Brien award as the nation's outstanding quarterback; early polls indicate the Heisman could be next.) If the NFL's assessment comes back favorable, Bradford could land a signing bonus upwards of $30 million.

If he chooses to leave, that is. Bradford's wishes go deeper than dollars.

"We go eat lunch every Friday before home games, stuff like that. We just hang out like normal guys," said Joey Halzle, Bradford's backup. "He's not the type of person to beat his chest or think he deserves something over somebody else because of what he's accomplished on the field.

"He's a very unassuming guy. If you didn't know he was Sam Bradford, he wouldn't tell you he was."

Bradford doesn't embrace his celebrity yet, but he no longer shuns it. He poses for pictures, signs autographs, shakes hands and smiles. A lot. Often, he enjoys it. But underneath lies an uncommon fierceness.

"He's very competitive," said OU quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel. "There's not a more competitive person out there, whether you're playing basketball, hockey, ping pong. Whatever it is, he wants to win."

Bradford may have surprised the rest of the sporting world with his sudden acumen, but he hasn't surprised himself. Good parenting or bad, born leader or natural hothead, success at this level doesn't come free.

"A lot of the great players I've been able to see here, like Adrian (Peterson) and some of the other guys, they're really good, but they keep practicing well," said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "That's what's unique is when your best players are your best practice guys."

After two seasons, Stoops proclaimed Bradford as the best of his six quarterbacks. He has set virtually every OU passing record. If he wins Saturday night, he'll become the Sooners' fifth Heisman Trophy winner.

What a ride.

"(During the Texas Tech game in November), I was just kind of in tears over it all. It's just gone so fast," Martha Bradford said. "When Sam signed down there, Rhett Bomar was there, and I didn't think he would play until he was a junior — maybe. It's just all happened — it's happened a lot faster than I ever anticipated. It's just been amazing."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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OU@BVAR, Bella Vista (12/13/2008 9:05:28 PM)

Sam is a fine gentleman and fine quarterback. He beat out two other fine gentlmen and fine quarterbacks tonight.

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