Oklahoma Football: Top 10 Quarterbacks in Modern Sooners History
By Chip Rouse
Oct 4, 2015; Landover, MD, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford (7) prepares to throw the ball against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
No. 1 – Sam Bradford – (2007-09)
Sam Bradford is another former Oklahoma football star who grew up in and around the Sooner football program. His father, Kent, was an offensive lineman at OU in the late 1970s, playing for Barry Switzer.
Bradford red-shirted his freshman season in 2006. The following season, he won a quarterback battle with two other candidates for the starting job. In his first game as the starter, Bradford completed 21 of 23 pass attempts for 363 yards in a little over two quarters of action, breaking the Oklahoma record for passing yards in a half. In his second game of the 2007 season, he broke Jason White’s record for the most consecutive completed passes with 22 and tied a school record with five touchdown passes.
The Oklahoma City native threw for 3,121 yards his redshirt-freshman season with 36 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. His sophomore season was even better, passing for 4,720 yards, 50 touchdowns (an OU record) and eight interceptions. Bradford was the recipient of all kinds of individual honors in 2008, including Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the Davey O’Brien Award, First Team All-American and the biggest prize of all, the Heisman Trophy. He also led his team to the BCS National Championship game, where the Sooners lost to Tim Tebow and Florida.
Bradford elected to bypass the NFL Draft in 2009 to return to OU for another run at the national championship. Unfortunately, his season was cut short very early when he suffered an injured shoulder in the first game of the 2009 season. He was reinjured after returning several games later against Texas, which ended his season and, ultimately, his college career.
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Despite missing most of the 2009 season, Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, selected by the St. Louis Rams. After five injury-plagued seasons with the Rams (two ACL surgeries), he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles prior to the 2015 season.