Number 9 on the list brings us another young star from the gridiron, this time a quarterback. Sam Bradford is our 2nd quarterback to make the list. Playing what many consider the toughest position in all of sports, Bradford was able to come in as a rookie and play at a pretty high level. He even made the lowly St Louis Rams relevant again - no small task.
Coming into the 2010 season it was not a given that Bradford would be so successful. He suffered a brutal AC joint sprain in his shoulder in the first game of his junior season at Oklahoma, missing about a month of action. He then re-injured the shoulder against Texas a few weeks later and was forced to undergo season-ending surgery. Many feared, that his shoulder woes would keep him from being taken #1, but Bradford was impressive in his workouts and the Rams decided to go ahead and make him their franchise quarterback with the #1 overall pick.
Bradford's college career is as impressive as anyone on this list, which is even more impressive when you consider that he really only played two years at Oklahoma. In his first season as a red-shirt freshman, Bradford won the starting gig in 2007 and set the world on fire. He broke the record for touchdown passes by a freshman with 30 TD throws and led the Sooners to a Big XII championship and an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl against West Virginia - which they lost 48-28.
As a Sophomore, things got even better. Bradford is the first and only Heisman trophy winner to make the list. In 2008 Bradford led a high-powered Sooner offense to an NCAA record 702 points scored. He also led the Sooners to a 3rd straight Big XII title and an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game against Florida. Bradford became the 2nd sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman Trophy (Tebow) in one of the closest votes in the history of the award, barely edging out Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow. Bradford received 300 1st place votes - 9 less than Tebow - but he landed the most 2nd place votes by far which helped him win the award for most total points. In a little known fact, Bradford was the first player of Native American descent to win the award since Jim Plunkett in 1970.
Following that record breaking season, Bradford surprisingly passed on the NFL draft to return to Oklahoma for his Junior season. We all know how that turned out with the shoulder injuries mentioned above. Nonetheless, Bradford was still the #1 overall pick in 2009.
As a rookie with the Rams, Bradford was able to put up better or comparable numbers with some of the best QB's in the NFL - Jay Cutler, Donovan McNabb and Mark Sanchez. Certainly, he's not yet in the company of Manning, Brady, Brees or Roethlisberger but many believe he has the ability to get there.
Although, he is in Manning's company in one way. Bradford surpassed Peyton Manning's record for most completed passes by an NFL rookie quarterback (326)and finished the season with 354 completions out of 590 attempts, also surpassing Manning's record of 575 for most attempts by a rookie quarterback. He is just the third rookie quarterback to start all 16 regular season games and pass over 3000 passing yards, joining Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan. He completed 60% of his passes for 3,512 yards and threw for 18 touchdowns and 15 picks. All in all, Bradford was pretty impressive as a rookie QB. Perhaps, his most impressive stat was the 7-9 record of the St Louis Rams who were 1-15 a year ago with virtually the same squad.
Bradford and the Rams missed the playoffs with a loss in the final week of the season to Seattle. Bradford struggled in the game, showing that he still has a way to go before he is an elite QB. However, at just 23 years old, and with the success he has already enjoyed there are few who doubt that Bradford will get there. St Louis Rams fans can certainly breath a little easier knowing that they have a franchise QB in place and now just need to put the pieces around him. In the weak NFC West, Bradford and the Rams should enjoy plenty more success in the coming years.
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