Sam Bradford: To leave or not to leave

Enter the NFL Draft and make millions of dollars as a probable high first round pick.

Or return to Norman, where he’d be leading the Sooners on their quest for a return trip to the national championship.

Nine months later, Bradford has another decision to make. Only this one is hardly a win-win.

Enter the draft, as expected, amidst questions about his durability and health.

Or return to OU for what will be a rebuilding season.

Sunday, Bradford underwent an MRI, which showed he re-aggravated his throwing shoulder after being sacked during the first quarter against Texas. Bradford will consult with doctors and his family about whether he’ll need surgery to correct the persistent Grade 3 AC joint sprain that has ruined his junior season.

Said Bradford, “I’m sure my family and our doctors, once they know more, we’ll talk and (surgery) is an option. We’ll see.”

After that, Bradford will have to decide if entering the draft is best for him. If he does declare, it will be curious to see how NFL teams view him.

Just a day after Bradford went down, analysts began speculating.

ESPN draft guru Todd McShay suggested on in a radio interview that Bradford’s stock could fall to the middle of the first round, which could cost him between $10-20 million.

But appearing on CBS’s NFL Today, former NFL general manager Charley Casserly declared he didn’t believe the injury would affect Bradford’s stock at all.

“He was going to be a top-five pick last year,” Casserly said. “I don’t know why it would be in any different this year.”

If he feels dubious about his draft status, Bradford has the option of coming back to school for his final season of eligibility.

But if you thought playing behind this year’s line was hazardous to his health, wait until next season. With by far OU’s best three linemen — Trent Williams, Brian Simmons and Brody Eldridge — all graduating, the offensive line is probably in store for a further regression.

If Bradford comes back and is seriously hurt again, his draft stock will plummet lower and he will begin to solidify a reputation that will be tough to shake: being brittle.

So while his teammates attempt to press on without him, Bradford is left with a decision to make.

Stay or go.

And unlike the one he had in January, this one is far from ideal.

-JT

27 Show / Hide Archive Comments

The following comments are archived from the original publication of this post

• Silk Smoov@Girls Basketball Camps on Oct 28, 2009 @ 4:34 am
  What can ever be wrong with going back to school? Especially when it is still free with your scholarship. Why not make your parents proud that you remember that the words STUDENT-ATHLETE involves schooling first.
• Brittany on Oct 21, 2009 @ 9:21 pm
  Man, once i FINALLY get to go to the ou game my man gets hurt. I feel so bad for him. I think that he should concentrate on getting better. He has plenty of time to choose whether he wants to stay or go. I hope and prey he stays with ou cuz hes amazing and he looks really hot in crimson and cream and i just got his white jersey. =)
• Jadeusa on Oct 21, 2009 @ 7:33 pm
  Sam Bradford makes his own decisions. Right now, he only has to make the decision to have surgery & rehab his shoulder. He has until January, 2010 to make his up his mind to go pro. Some pro scouts say that he would have gone in the top 5 or certainly top 10 last year. He probably will go pro and go in the top 10 in the draft. A criticism last year was that he was behind a great OL whereas Matt Stafford was not, and he had only played 2 years vs. 4 yrs. OU will re-load on the OL in 2010, but Sam needs to move on to the NFL. I want to see him excel in the NFL next.
• Gerald on Oct 21, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
  You're nuts if you don't think the coaches ENCOURAGED Sam to stay and play. They obviously did. And by the way, Gundy's BROTHER is on the staff, so everything that the coaches did against Sam's best interests is going to be relayed to future OSU recruits. Bradford could've packed it in, entered the draft, not thrown at the combine (Stafford didn't throw), and he would've been taken somewhere between 1-3. Now he could be the THIRD QB taken, which means he could fall to the second round. This has been an absolute disaster, and I feel terrible for Sam and further resent the dishonesty of this coaching staff.
• Lisais4ou on Oct 21, 2009 @ 7:12 pm
  Gerald - how will it be a recruiting issue? Sam made his decision to stay, no one forced him. Sam is a smart guy, give him some credit for being able to think on his own. Does he regret it now? Sure, but "what if" and we can play that all day, he was healthy and having a great year! We would probably be 6-0 and he would be in the running for another Heisman Trophy. People would think he was Saint Sam. Hind sight is 20/20.
• Gerald on Oct 21, 2009 @ 6:36 pm
  I wouldn't call the decision to enter the draft and make $30,000,000 in guaranteed money versus another year with our Sooners a "win-win decision". It's incredulous to me that you people are totally incapable of reporting on this situation with integrity and/or honesty. But it's the type of journalism I've come to expect from this publication. No reason to sugarcoat it: Sam Bradford made the worst personal financial decision in the history of professional sports. He literally walked away from over $30,000,000 in cold, hard cash, and now there is a chance his career will never pan out. This was a decision that originally was in the best interests of OU (not Sam Bradford), but now will be used as negative recruiting fodder against the OU coaching staff for YEARS to come.

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