OCR: Under Bradley, Chargers' secondary has been super
Robin Miller
Whicker column: Under Bradley, Chargers' secondary has been super
Bill Bradley doesn't answer to "Super Bill" anymore, but the former Texas
high school legend and All-Pro NFL safety is coaching a Super Bowl-caliber
secondary in San Diego.
MARK WHICKER
Register columnist
mwhi...@ocregister.com
SAN DIEGO -- Antonio Cromartie led the NFL in interceptions this year. Bill
Bradley, back in the '70s, did that twice.
Bill Bradley is Antonio Cromartie's position coach in San Diego these days.
"Cro does all the film study, he's athletic, he's smart, he's got good
hands," Bradley said. "He's Deion Sanders, with height (6-foot-2)."
Bradley will go on like that for as long as you want. The one thing he'll
never call Cromartie is Superman. He's been through that.
You might remember a high school quarterback from Palestine, Texas, who made
Sports Illustrated because he was known as Super Bill Bradley. He was headed
to Texas, where he was destined to win multiple Heismans and eventually
become Larry McMurtry's next hero on horseback.
"What happened was Texas and Pennsylvania had a Big 33 high school All-Star
game," Bradley said Thursday. "Bobby Layne and Doak Walker were two of our
coaches. Well, Jerry Levias was our top receiver. All I had to do was go
back there and throw it as far as I could, and he'd catch it. That's what
happened, and someone asked Doak Walker about me, and he said, 'When he
takes his shirt off he must have an S on his chest.' And everybody took it
from there."
Since it was Texas and football, they took it above and beyond.
"That's a lot to put on a sophomore in college," Bradley said (freshman
weren't eligible then). "I never really answered to that nickname. And I
didn't adjust to the offense I had to run. But what people didn't realize
was that I could do other things."
Darrell Royal eventually replaced Bradley with James Street, the Longhorns
cranked up the wishbone, and Bradley did indeed win a national championship.
Except he was a punter and a safety. Instead of playing an imperial position
like quarterback, Bradley was a down-and-dirty hitter and leader. He was in
his element.
Before the Texas A&M game, Bradley and the captains went to the 50-yard line
for the coin toss, which Texas won. The official asked Bradley if Texas
wanted to kick or receive. "We don't give a (expletive)," he said.
"I was probably a better baseball player," Bradley said. "My dad Joe was my
coach. He coached various teams in Palestine for 26 years and won
championships in 23 of them. They named the field after him. He was a
dispatcher for the railroad and his four brothers were all conductors."
Bradley would make the College All-Star Game himself and distinguish himself
against Joe Namath and the defending Super Bowl champion Jets. Then he went
to Philadelphia, where he was All-Pro three years and still shares the
club's all-time interception record.
He has claimed that he was never booed in Philadelphia, a city that finds
room in its frigid heart for characters who play hard (i.e. John Kruk).
Often, the play extended beyond sunset.
"I would hang around with (linebacker) Tim Rossovich," Bradley said. "I was
the one who had to get him home every night. So I got the reputation for
staying out all night myself. Tim would do some crazy things, but there
always was a method to his mental illness.
"I loved playing there. I used all those years of playing quarterback to
figure out what quarterbacks were thinking, and I could tackle. I made the
Eagles list me at 196 pounds. I usually played at 171."
Now Bradley is handling a real challenge - coaching defensive backs in the
four-wide world of the 21st century.
How do you measure performance? Well, quarterbacks had a lower rating
against the Chargers than against any other NFL defense, and the Chargers
dealt with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and David Garrard.
They face Manning and the Colts in Sunday's AFC semifinal at Indianapolis,
and they intercepted him six times on Nov. 11. They also led the league in
interceptions and takeaways.
Bradley came here with defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. They were
together with Buffalo and the Jets. The Bills led the NFL in defense in
2000.
Before that Bradley was with four different Canadian Football League teams
over six years, where offenses get three downs and thus flood the zone
constantly. It was a sneak preview.
"Most teams get out of the spread against us," Bradley said. "Green Bay has
run it all year but not against us. It's good when they don't throw at Cro,
because Quentin Jammer has been so consistent on the other side."
The safeties are Marlon McCree and Clinton Hart with rookie Eric Weddle
backing up. At last the Chargers have found a secondary, after years of
draft-and-release.
"They're only as good as the rest of the defense is, but now we're all
working together and trusting the game plan," Bradley said." And our guys
have amnesia. I tell 'em they have to forget everything that's happened."
He smiled. The future always Supersedes.
Contact the writer: mwhi...@ocregister.com
http://www.ocregister.com/column/bradley-texas-years-1958037-game-never
mya...@gmail.com
Kurgan Gringioni
> Friday, January 11, 2008
>
> Whicker column: Under Bradley, Chargers' secondary has been super
> Bill Bradley doesn't answer to "Super Bill" anymore, but the former Texas
> high school legend and All-Pro NFL safety is coaching a Super Bowl-caliber
> secondary in San Diego.
>
> MARK WHICKER
> Register columnist
>
> SAN DIEGO -- Antonio Cromartie led the NFL in interceptions this year. Bill
> Bradley, back in the '70s, did that twice.
>
> Bill Bradley is Antonio Cromartie's position coach in San Diego these days.
>
> "Cro does all the film study, he's athletic, he's smart, he's got good
> hands," Bradley said. "He's Deion Sanders, with height (6-foot-2)."
<snip>
Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
and people were flaming me.
bol
<kgrin...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
>and people were flaming me.
So what's your point. You would flame people as well if they made
posts like that about someone as a first year starter. I think he has
the potential, but let's get some seasons under his belt before we
annoint him.
Shawn
> the potential, but let's get some seasons under his belt before we
> annoint him.
>
Does that mean "cover him with butter"?
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Kurgan Gringioni
> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:43:32 -0800 (PST), Kurgan Gringioni
>
>
> >Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
> >and people were flaming me.
>
> So what's your point. You would flame people as well if they made
> posts like that about someone as a first year starter.
Nope. I flame people when they want to give the organization a blowjob
for a deal before we've seen a single result of the deal on the field.
I made that statement about Cro because his play *on the field*
supported it.
BTW, the most interceptions Deion Sanders ever had in a single season
was seven. Cro's got 10 so far this year and those INT stats don't
include his fumble for a TD and the 109 missed field goal return for a
TD. If an established player like Champ Bailey or Asante Samuel had
those numbers, they'd get Defensive Player of the Year. Cro finished
4th in that balloting, which was nice, but he doesn't get max
consideration because no one knew who he was.
Chuck D.
"Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
and people were flaming me."
Not me, at least in this case, I would _never_ do that! </snicker>
GO BOLTS!!!
PBDepot
Of course they were, it's almost an insult. Cro can tackle better than
Deion. ;)
bol
Hey, everything is better "covered in butter". Just ask my arteries.
bol
<kgrin...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Jan 12, 5:22 am, bol <as...@blahblah.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:43:32 -0800 (PST), Kurgan Gringioni
>>
>> <kgringi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
>> >and people were flaming me.
>>
>> So what's your point. You would flame people as well if they made
>> posts like that about someone as a first year starter.
>
>
>
>Nope. I flame people when they want to give the organization a blowjob
>for a deal before we've seen a single result of the deal on the field.
>I made that statement about Cro because his play *on the field*
>supported it.
So one good year supports that status? If he continues that play,
then I will agree with you 100%. Until then, he is a kid who has had
a fan-uicking-tastic year and should only continue to improve.
Kurgan Gringioni
> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:44:55 -0800 (PST), Kurgan Gringioni
>
>
>
>
>
> <kgringi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >On Jan 12, 5:22 am, bol <as...@blahblah.com> wrote:
> >> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:43:32 -0800 (PST), Kurgan Gringioni
>
> >> <kgringi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> >Earlier this year I was saying the Cro was Deion Sanders w/ more speed
> >> >and people were flaming me.
>
> >> So what's your point. You would flame people as well if they made
> >> posts like that about someone as a first year starter.
>
> >Nope. I flame people when they want to give the organization a blowjob
> >for a deal before we've seen a single result of the deal on the field.
> >I made that statement about Cro because his play *on the field*
> >supported it.
>
> So one good year supports that status?
Statistically, Deion never had a year as good as the one Cro just had
and Cro started only half the games.
bol
I understand that. That's why I say it is more about producing over
the long haul that makes a player great. Either way, you win. I am
done with this.