Bad sports, good sports: Sam Bradford’s potentially expensive decision

Posted on October 19th, 2009 by Alan Spoll

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford had a magical redshirt sophomore year. He led the Sooners to a 12-2 record, winning the Heisman Trophy in the process. The NFL scouts loved him, and he was projected by most to be a high pick in the draft, if not the first overall. Instead, he chose to return to school, hoping to lead the team to a National Championship. Instead, his junior year has turned into a nightmare for him.

In the opening game of the season, Bradford injured his shoulder. He missed three games while rehabbing, and led the team to a victory upon his return. This week, though, he reinjured the shoulder during Oklahoma’s game against Texas, which they lost. There is a very real chance that Bradford will not return this season.

Most of us will never experience a dilemma like Bradford faced at the end of that sophomore season. College is a great time in a person’s life. I imagine that a star football player’s college experience has very little in common with my own experiences at that time in my life, of course, but I still figure it’s got to be pretty good. We have heard plenty of stories, over the years, of players choosing to go back to school, just as we have heard of many choosing to make the jump to the ranks of the professionals. The first pick in the NFL draft makes an incredible amount of money. Life-changing money.

Some people who have made the choice to return to school have done so in order to get their degree. Some have done it because they aren’t yet ready to leave college. Some because they think they have a shot to accomplish something big, like a championship, before they move on. I am not exactly sure which was Bradford’s motivation, although he has made statements about winning a championship that would lead me to think that was at least a part ot it. Whatever the reason, passing up that money, knowing that he was taking the chance of getting seriously injured and never collecting on that jackpot, has to have been an extremely difficuly decision to make. I have to imagine that if it were me, I would have taken the money. Maybe I’m shallow, but the contract signed by Matthew Stafford, the Georgia quarterback who ended up being the first player taken in this year’s draft, included over 40 million dollars in guaranteed money. He hadn’t played a single down in the NFL, and he was already set for life.

Bradford will likely still have an NFL career. He may even be a first round pick, although teams may be wary of his apparent brittleness. Whether or not he comes back for his senior year, I respect the fact that he was willing to give it a shot this year. He took a risk and did what was important to him,, and I admire him for that.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Haven’t seen this one before, have you? An English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Sunderland was decided by a single goal. That, in and of itself, is not news. The fact that the goal deflected in off of a beach ball that had floated in from the stands, however, is something entirely new.

3) A University of Connecticut football player was stabbed and killed early Sunday morning after a dance on campus. Jasper Howard, a starting cornerback, was killed during an altercation during a fire drill that had emptied the dance hall. The perpetrator has yet to be found.

Bad sports bonus:

4) Have you ever seen a Rabbi on a basketball court, asking officials to let a coach remain after being ejected? It happened in New York on Sunday, as the Knicks were playing an exhibition against an Israeli team from Tel Aviv. Coach Pini Gershon was kicked out after he was given two techincal fouls for arguing, but refused to leave the court. The Rabbi attempted to intervene, but Gershon eventually left. Now I’ve seen everything.

Good sports:

1) Talk about a perfect weekend. Three-time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson could do no wrong at this week’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte. He was fastest in all three practice sessions, took the pole position in qualifying, and won the race after leading the most laps. And he did all of this at the track named for Lowe’s, who also happens to be the primary sponsor of his car. There are still five races left, but four titles in a row, which has never before been done, is looking very possible.

2) Kurt Warner has been given up on several times in his career. After starting in the Arena Football League, he eventually made it to the St. Louis Rams, whom he led to a Super Bowl. The Rams jettisoned him after five seasons, despite his two MVP awards. He went to the New York Giants, but was only expected to be a caretaker while the Giants waited for top pick Eli Manning to be ready. He lasted one season in New York before going to Arizona. Even there, he was fairly quickly an afterthought, as they drafted Matt Leinart in the first round of the draft after Warner’s first year there. Despite all that, he just became the quickest player to ever reach 30,000 yards passing in a career. The guy just keeps throwing.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02