Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred in football, basketball and golf. As a senior quarterback in 2005, he threw for 2,029 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games. Bradford was not highly recruited coming out of high school, but he received a scholarship offer from the University of Oklahoma, which he accepted. After a redshirt season in 2006, Bradford threw for 3,121 yards and 36 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman with the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2008, Bradford became only the second sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy as he led the highest-scoring offense in NCAA history, passing for 4,720 yards with 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. He again led the nation in passing and also added five rushing touchdowns as the Sooners went 12–1 and advanced to the BCS national title game.
Bradford declared for the NFL draft following the 2009 season and was selected by the St. Louis Rams with the first overall selection in the 2010 NFL draft. That year, Bradford set the record for most completions by a rookie in NFL history, which helped earn him the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Prior to the start of the 2015 season, the Rams traded Bradford along with a 2015 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for quarterback Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick. Following his 2015 campaign with the Eagles, in which he set career-highs in passing yards (3,725), completion percentage (65%) and yards per attempt (7.0), the Minnesota Vikings acquired Bradford after their starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was lost to a season-ending knee injury before the start of the season. Bradford signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and started three games, but was replaced by rookie Josh Rosen and eventually released.
Bradford was born to Kent and Martha Bradford in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He attended Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City, where he starred in football, basketball, baseball, and golf for the Putnam City North Panthers. Bradford played as a pitcher in baseball, but gave up baseball after his freshman year. He earned All-City honors as a junior quarterback in football by The Oklahoman. Following his senior season in which he threw for 2,029 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games, Bradford was named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State Team and was a Second-Team All-State pick by The Oklahoman.
Bradford was also a Division I-caliber basketball player. As a senior, he averaged 18.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and played on the same elite AAU team as fellow Oklahoma City native and NBA star Blake Griffin. In golf, Bradford defeated future PGA touring pros Kevin Tway and Robert Streb during his high school career. In addition to the aforementioned sports, Bradford also played ice hockey in his youth. In 1999, when Bradford was 12, his travel team, the Junior Blazers, won a regional championship, beating a team from Houston. He quit the sport that same year, and according to his former hockey coach Mike McEwen, who played on three Stanley Cup championship teams with the New York Islanders, Bradford had the talent to make it in the NHL. McEwen also said that Bradford was one of the best players he ever coached.
In the spring of 2005, by the end of Bradford's junior season, he garnered interest from several Division I football programs, including Stanford, Michigan, Texas Tech, and nearby Oklahoma. Following his senior season, Bradford was viewed as a two-to-three-star recruit (out of five) and was not that highly ranked among the high school class of 2006, with his highest ranking being No. 12 among only pro-style quarterbacks by recruiting source Rivals.com. Bradford was ranked behind Pat Devlin, "Juice" Williams, and Josh Freeman, and was overshadowed by five-star recruits such as Mitch Mustain, Matthew Stafford, and Tim Tebow.
Bradford received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Oklahoma, where he played for coach Bob Stoops's Oklahoma Sooners football team. He redshirted as a freshman in 2006. The same year, Oklahoma's starting quarterback Rhett Bomar, then a sophomore, was dismissed from the team for violating NCAA rules. Paul Thompson, a senior quarterback-turned-wide receiver, converted back to quarterback and led the 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team to win the Big 12 Championship Game. His departure left a void at the quarterback position at Oklahoma. Six players on the roster tried out for the starting position during the following off-season, including three walk-on quarterbacks, true freshman Keith Nichol (a Rivals.com 4-star recruit and 6th-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2007 recruiting class, who later transferred to Michigan State University), junior Joey Halzle (the only one with game experience), and Bradford. On August 21, 2007, Bradford won the starting quarterback role for the 2007 team.
In his first game for the Sooners, against the University of North Texas, Bradford completed 21 of 23 passing attempts for 363 yards and three touchdowns in a little over two quarters, breaking the school record for passing yards in a half, held by his quarterback coach Josh Heupel, with 350. The very next game, Bradford broke Heisman Trophy winner Jason White's school record for most consecutive pass completions with 22 (18 came in the first half and 4 at the start of the second).
In the second week of the 2007 season, Bradford was named the college national offensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation after tying the school record for most touchdown passes in a game with five. Having thrown 25 touchdowns through his first nine games, Bradford was on pace to break the NCAA freshman record of 29 touchdowns set by David Neill in 1998 and tied by Colt McCoy in 2006.
In the November 17, 2007, game against Texas Tech, Bradford suffered a concussion. He was removed from the game and replaced by back-up quarterback Joey Halzle. The Sooners lost the game, 27–34. Bradford was able to play in the Bedlam game against Oklahoma State a week later. During the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Bradford broke the NCAA freshman record of 29 touchdowns by passing his 30th touchdown to Joe Jon Finley during the second quarter. At the Missouri Tigers game, Bradford threw for 209 yards and 0 interceptions. He was 18–26 and threw for two touchdowns.
The Sooners won the Big 12 Championship after defeating Missouri for the second time in a season. The Sooners played the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2008, and lost 48–28. Bradford led the nation with a passer rating of 176.5.
The following season Bradford surpassed quarterback coach Josh Heupel's school record for passing yards in a single game with 468 yards. Bradford led the Sooners to their third straight Big 12 Championship and defeated Missouri 62–21. In the process, the Sooners broke Hawaii's 2006 record for the most points in a single season with 702 points. Also, the Sooners were the first team in NCAA history to score 60 or more points in five straight games. Oklahoma finished the 2008 regular season with a 12–1 record, ranking #2 in the AP Poll and #1 in the BCS Standings. The Sooners earned a trip to play Florida at the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. Bradford turned in one of the best seasons ever by a quarterback, passing for 4,720 yards with an NCAA-leading 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
After the regular season, Bradford captured the Davey O'Brien Award and the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best player in college football. He is the second sophomore, after 2007 winner Tim Tebow of the University of Florida, to receive the Heisman; he also became the fifth University of Oklahoma player, as well as the second person of Native American descent to capture the trophy after Jim Plunkett. Bradford received 1,726 total points while the other finalists, Colt McCoy, of the University of Texas, and Tim Tebow, received 1,604 and 1,575, respectively. Tebow, however, collected more first-place votes, 309, while Bradford got 300. Bradford got the most points thanks to the help of his 315 second-place votes. A total of 926 voters participated in the balloting.