Sam Bradford: Lightning Strikes Twice

As Sam Bradford was conquering his conquest to come back from a torn left ACL suffered last year in Carolina, the comments from Rams Park were overwhelmingly positive and hope sprung eternal for the 2014 St. Louis Rams.  Bradford was great in Week 2 of the preseason against Green Bay, even fitting the ball into a tight window to TE Jared Cook for a TD in the Redzone.  He moved well.  His arm looked as good as it ever has.  Hope sprung eternal from Rams Park.  Wide receivers, tight ends and coaches all gushed over the progress that Bradford had made since going under the knife last year.  He looked great, with a more muscular upper body and had a clean shaved face and actually looked like a franchise quarterback that the Rams were hoping for with the #1 Overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma.  Hope sprung eternal.

Week 3 of the preseason was supposed to be the last dress rehearsal for the Rams.  The 1st team offense and defense was set to play the entire 1st half against the Cleveland Browns and be a good barometer on the progress of the team and coaching staff that had added depth and talent through the draft.  Instead of a bombastic dress rehearsal, someone pressed a button and we got a replay of last year.  Bradford on the ground, writhing in pain because LT Jake Long whiffed on his block.  The hit looked innocent, but the consequences may be all but a death sentence to Bradford’s once promising turnaround in St. Louis.  With Bradford missing the entire year, that will bring his missed game total to 32 in 5 years with the Rams, playing in only 48 team games.  Bradford’s pocketbook is none the wiser, though.  But, this is one thing that we can’t say is his fault.  Bradford came from college and was the last of the #1 overall picks to cash in on a exorbitant payday before the CBA was renegotiated.

I get that social media experts and national pundits want to declare Sam Bradford the buzzword bust.  His overall body of work will surely leave something to be desired, but forget the price tag because that is a by-product of the system, and not the player or the organization.  Bradford arrived to a team that had gone 15-65 the previous five years and inherited a team that was tissue paper thin at nearly every position and had a coaching staff with less experience than that.  Bradford ran through offensive coordinators like a frat boy runs through Natty Lights at the latest social.  Terminology changing constantly and  below average wide receivers and an aging running back all lead to Bradford not putting up fantasy football numbers that everyone craved.  He suffered a high ankle sprain in his 2nd season and was put into action on Monday Night Football with then OC Josh McDaniels asking him to run a naked bootleg on 3rd and Goal from the 1.  He had absolutely no business being out there, and the national attention started to swell that Bradford had not lived up to expectations.

We can look at stats.  We know what they are.  We know what his record was as the starting quarterback.  He suffered three major injuries, including two torn ACLs within a year.  His guaranteed money is not a secret.  Overall, of course everyone would like to have had a better record at this point, and not start over with a career backup two weeks before the season.  You can call him a bust.  I could call him a bust.  Sam Bradford was never given the weapons necessary in this league to be successful, nor the top notch defense that was expected this year.  He was finally in a position to show everyone if he could hack it with high expectations that were awaiting prior to the 2014 NFL season.   Bradford’s career in St. Louis is most likely, and should be, over.  I will not call him a bust.  I will say that he just simply wasn’t able to perform and show what he could do.  Injuries plagued his career, there is no denying that.  But he isn’t a bust.  He’s just injured.

The NFL is a bottom line business and Bradford’s bottom line isn’t as profitable as expected.  Everyone always wants to blame somebody when it goes wrong, or Google the 2010 draft and play the ‘we should have drafted’ game.  Professional sports is always a gamble, especially the NFL when it comes to selecting a future franchise quarterback.  If it was that easy, every team would have a quarterback throwing for 5K yards and 40 TDs.  The Rams were not counting on their passing offense to lead them to the Super Bowl.  Their defense has to be better now, and so does their run game.  Good luck to Sam Bradford, because he hasn’t had any so far.