Ronald Lee Bradford (born October 1, 1970) is a former defensive back who played for the NFL's

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

(1993–1995), Arizona Cardinals (1996), Atlanta Falcons (1997–2001) and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. He also served as a defensive assistant

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the Broncos and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. Bradford was also the defensive backs coach at USC.

Early years

Bradford was born in Minot North Dakota. Bradford played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Adams City High School Adams City High School is a high school located in Commerce City, Colorado, United States. Commerce City was originally known as Adams City. History Adams City High School was first known as Union High School No. 1 when it was created in 1908. ...

Commerce City, Colorado The City of Commerce City is a home rule municipality located in Adams County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 62,418 at the 2020 United States Census, a 35.95% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Commerce City is the ...

College career

Ronnie Bradford played college football for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. During his sophomore year, he blocked an

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

in Colorado's 10-9 victory over Notre Dame in the

1991 Orange Bowl The 1991 Orange Bowl was the 57th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1990–91 bowl game season, it matched the independent and fifth-ranked Notre ...

to help Colorado win a share of the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in the 1990 college football season (Colorado shared the National Championship in 1990 with

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

). That blocked extra point by Bradford was the difference in that football game.

Professional career

Bradford finished his ten NFL seasons with two sacks, four fumble recoveries, and 13

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 ...

s, one of which he returned for a

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 ...

. With the Falcons, he played in

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

and recorded an interception from Broncos

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 ...

John Elway in the game.

Coaching career

Bradford spent six seasons (2003–2008) with the Denver Broncos coaching on defense and

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 ...

. He was a defensive assistant with the

in 2009. Bradford joined

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 ...

's coaching staff in March 2010 as an administrative assistant for the defense. The move reunited Bradford with former Kansas City defensive coordinator. In September 2011, he was added to the U of Memphis football staff as a secondary coach. In 2013, he coached at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research acti ...

. In 2016, he was hired by USC to coach the defensive secondary.

References

External links

Cal bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Ronnie 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota Players of American football from North Dakota American football defensive backs Colorado Buffaloes football players Denver Broncos players Arizona Cardinals players Atlanta Falcons players Minnesota Vikings players Denver Broncos coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches People from Commerce City, Colorado