Carl Thomas Bradford (born August 15, 1992) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He played college football at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, and Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL; the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

; the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their h ...

of the

AAF AAF may refer to: Aviation * Aigle Azur (ICAO code), a French airline * Apalachicola Regional Airport (IATA code), in Apalachicola, Florida Corporations * American Air Filter, today a part of HVAC-equipment-maker Daikin Military * Albanian Arm ...

; and the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

of the XFL.

Early years

Bradford attended

Norco High School Norco High School is California Distinguished School comprehensive public high school serving over 2,000 students from grades 9-12 in Norco, California, United States. It is part of the Corona-Norco Unified School District. The current principal ...

Norco, California Norco is a city in Riverside County, California, in the United States. Norco is known as Horsetown, USA and prides itself on being a "horse community," with horse trails, hitching posts, and corrals, and city ordinances requiring construction to ...

. While there, he was coached by

Todd Gerhart Todd Gerhart (born December 8, 1962) is a former American football running back who played one season with the Denver Gold of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at California State University, Fullerton. He was a ...

, father of 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up

Toby Gerhart Tobin Bo Gunnar Gerhart (born March 28, 1987) is a former American football running back. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for Stanford University, and was a unanimous ...

. Bradford played fullback at Norco as a junior and

as a senior. During his senior year, he had 136 carries for 884 yards, averaging 6.5 per carry with 14

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. Additionally, he averaged 35.3 yards per reception and had four games with over 100 rushing yards. The best game of his high school career came against

Corona High School Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 dis ...

, in which he had 136 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, and caught two touchdown passes. He was named to the All-West-Legion list by

Prepstar ''PrepStar College Recruiting'', known also as ''PrepStar'', is an online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first maga ...

. Coming out of high school, Bradford was measured at six-foot-one inches and weighed 220 pounds. He was given a three-star ranking from

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and was ranked as the 16th best linebacker in the state of California, and ranked 61st overall. He received

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

offers from

and

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, while also receiving interest from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

College career

Bradford decided to sign his letter of intent with Arizona State University and received a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

designation his first year on campus. Even so, he earned Hard Hat Player designation for his work in the off-season strength and conditioning program. During his first year on the field as a redshirt sophomore, Bradford played on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and alternated on defense between linebacker and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played in all 13 games. During a game against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, he recorded a sack against

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Nick Foles Nicholas Edward Foles (born January 20, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona and was selected in the third round of the 2012 NFL D ...

and three-and-a-half

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

for loss. Later in the season, he recorded his first start in the MAACO Bowl against Boise State, who was ranked sixth in the nation at the time. The next year, Bradford started every game of the season. He recorded his first career

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

in a 17-38 loss against USC. He also had ten tackles and a fumble recovery. He added two more sacks against

. He finished the season with 81 tackles, the fourth most on the team, and was named as an honorable mention on the All-Pac-12 team. Additionally, 58 of his tackles were solo and 20.5 of them were for a loss. He also had five pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. In his final year as a Sun Devil, Bradford was named to the preseason watchlists for the Bednarik, Lombardi, and Butkus awards. He started all 14 games of the season. Bradford had a career-best four tackles for loss against

, and later in the season returned an interception for a touchdown against

. During a Halloween game against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, he had arguably the best game of his college career when he had one sack, two forced fumbles, three hurries, and blocked a punt. Bradford's efforts earned him first-team All-Pac-12 honors by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pr ...

. Additionally, he earned second-team by Athlon Sports. He finished the season with 61 tackles, 19 for loss, and 8.5 sacks, all of which were the most on the team. Having earned his bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice, Bradford announced on January 13, 2014, he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft.

Head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2020–2021). Graham has served as the head football coach at Rice ...

released a statement saying it was an honor to coach Bradford and wished him the best in his future endeavors. Bradford's official draft grade was not released, but one source revealed that scouts told him he would be a third-round pick.

Statistics

''Source
TheSunDevils.com
'

Professional career

Scouts commented that Bradford played "with urgency" and was quick to the ball. They also commented that he flashed playmaking ability and was an explosive tackler with great hands. They stated that he had great instincts and the athleticism to drop back in coverage. He also had good leaping ability. Additionally, scouts discussed he had a short frame and got caught up on blocks. They also commented that Bradford got locked down by large blockers when they get hands on him. He was criticized for his lack of pass-rushing moves. Overall, he was believed to be an undersized college defensive end who would be an outside linebacker in a

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is a called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs ...

. Bradford was believed to be best used on an aggressive pass rushing team.

Green Bay Packers

Bradford was selected in the fourth round (121st overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFL Draft. He believed he would be drafted in the second round. He stated he's "always been a sleeper..." and would do what he needed to do to get noticed. Bradford listed his biggest challenge as learning to drop back into coverage. He stated when he first got to Green Bay, his head "was spinning" and that the way the Packers played was like a "foreign language" to him. On May 16, 2014, he signed a contract with the Packers. In his rookie season, Bradford was inactive for every game. He was released by the Packers during final team cuts on September 5, 2015. On September 7, 2015, Bradford was signed to the Packers' practice squad, where he spent the entirety of his second season. He was re-signed by the Packers after the season ended on January 18, 2016. For the second straight season, Bradford was released by the Packers during final roster cuts. He was signed to the Packers' practice squad two days later. On November 19, 2016, Bradford was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. He was released on December 17, 2016.

San Francisco 49ers

Bradford was claimed off waivers by the 49ers on December 19, 2016. On February 27, 2017, Bradford signed a one-year tender with the 49ers. On May 2, 2017, Bradford was waived by the 49ers.

Buffalo Bills

On May 9, 2017, Bradford signed with the Buffalo Bills. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Chicago Bears

On October 11, 2017, Bradford was signed to the Chicago Bears' practice squad. He was released on October 28, 2017.

Cincinnati Bengals

On December 6, 2017, Bradford was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals on January 1, 2018. He was waived by the Bengals on April 30, 2018.

Arizona Hotshots

On September 14, 2018, Bradford was revealed as a new signing for the

of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Houston Roughnecks

In October 2019, Bradford was picked up by the

in the open phase of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio

Arizona State Sun Devils bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Carl 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Anaheim, California Players of American football from Norco, California American football defensive ends American football linebackers Arizona State Sun Devils football players Green Bay Packers players San Francisco 49ers players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Arizona Hotshots players Houston Roughnecks players Norco High School alumni