Rod Bradley (born 29 March 1983) is an English player of

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 with ...

, as well an artist and entrepreneur.

Education

Roderick Bradley was born in

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

in 1983. He attended Oakham School between 1994 and 2001 before going to

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

to study art. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in illustration from the school of art and design. He was found to be dyslexic at an early age, causing him trouble academically in school. He became interested in design and spent much of his time drawing in exercise books.

Sporting career

Eventually Rod started to play

. He excelled and became the Great Britain youth champion in less than a year. In the European championships he suffered a seemingly career-ending injury to his knee, leaving his lower leg almost detached from the upper after ligament tears. After months of rehabilitation and surgery he could walk again, but medical advice suggested an end to his sporting career. He received a call up to the Great Britain squad two years later after many attempts to return to action, playing alongside his brother for his country. Currently, Rod is the wide receiver for the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

American football club. He captained the team in the 2007

BritBowl The Britbowl is the championship game of the British American Football National League, and formerly the British American Football League (BAFL) in the United Kingdom. It is the most prestigious of the league's three bowl games that constitute ...

and the Blitz came away with the title. Before joining the Blitz, he was selected to become a member of the Great British Lions squad and has competed at county and regional level as a swimmer and rugby player.

Other

Bradley is a freelance artist and design urban clothing for Rudey Arts and new sportswear for PlayerLayer. Rod supports many charities including the Vitiligo Society and is a great supporter of sports in schools.

Gladiators

Since 2008 Rod has been known as the gladiator "Spartan". Bradley was selected to become one of the 12 new

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's revival of the 1990s cult TV series of the same name. As Spartan, his tagline is: His application came about by chance. While working in a hotel, he met

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

, who later got him an audition. Once Rod got the audition he had to go through a variety of tests, including role play. People who had audition were dropping easily, meaning that to be a Gladiator one not only needed to be musculous, but also very athletic. In the first series of

, Kirsty Gallagher nicknamed Rod as the "Flirt In a Skirt" and Rod was also nicknamed the "Duel King" due to his near perfect record with a pugil stick in the game "Duel".

Sporting goods

In 2009, Bradley launched PlayerLayer, a concern for the manufacture of high-tech sports equipment. The business is headquartered in Grantham with manufacturing in Nottingham.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Roderick 1983 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University People educated at Oakham School People from Grantham English businesspeople Gladiators (1992 British TV series) Sportspeople from Lincolnshire