The University of Oklahoma, said Sam Bradford, is where he dreamed of being his whole life, where he envisioned becoming the next great Sooner. Now, every young man in the state wants to be No. 14, one of the greatest Sooners in a long line of Sooner greats. Read more over at Tilting at Windmills.
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Sam demonstrates the proper Heisman position.
Saturday should prove that you can’t spell Heisman without Sam.
Leading in the majority of Heisman Trophy straw polls, Bradford boasts a 186.29 Quarterback Rating that is first in the nation. That’s nearly a ten-point improvement from the 2007 season when he also led the nation as a redshirt freshman. It’s higher than recent Heisman winners Tim Tebow (Florida) in ’07, Troy Smith (Ohio State) in ’06, Matt Leinart (USC) in ’04 and Jason White (Oklahoma) in ’03.
A Heisman of Heismen, as it were. In fact, his rating this year is the highest of any quarterback since Ryan Dinwiddie’s (Boise State) 188.19 in 2002. Awesome.
More so when you consider that he also leads the country in passing touchdowns with 48. Bradford has accounted for 53 total touchdowns on the season to Colt McCoy’s 42 and Tebow’s 40. Mind-boggling when considering the Sooners have two running backs that have each rushed for over 1,000 yards. They’ve done plenty of scoring, too. Chris Brown is second in the nation in rushing touchdowns with 21 and DeMarco Murray has added 18.
Don’t forget that Bradford’s 4,464 passing yards are third in the nation – over 1,000 better than McCoy and nearly 2,000 more than Tebow.
Under Bradford’s leadership this season, the Sooners are the No. 1 ranked team entering next month’s BCS National Championship Game.
Now that’s one solid case for the Heisman Trophy.
Kindly pull out the first letter in each paragraph up to this point and what do you have?
Incidentally, you can’t spell that without Sam either.
Boomer Sooner.
Where are our manners? Happy belated birthday to the world’s foremost Sam. A now-legal Bradford celebrated 21 years of awesomeness Saturday by helping the Sooners score the most points by an opposing team in Kyle Field history — a route to be known henceforth, appropriately, as the Route 66.
Happy 21st, Sam. We hope you celebrated - responsibly - with a few Miller Lights.
Once Sam accepts my Facebook friend request from last August, we can hope to avoid this oversight in the future. Nevertheless, to celebrate 21 years, here are the top 21 Sam Bradford facts. Eat your heart out, Chuck Norris.
Boomer Sooner.
Atop the pinnacle of Sammydom sits our friends Sosa, Hagar and Davis, Jr.
Samuel has given us L. Jackson, The Book of, and perhaps most notably, Adams (summer ale or Boston lager.)
But as for the title of world’s foremost Sam, the list of candidates thins out shortly after Uncle. Sam Houston State? We won’t go there. And with all due respect to the Seattle Art Museum and Society of American Musicians, our Sam is making a push.
Sam Bradford is rewriting the Sooner record books. (Photo by The Oklahoman)
Sam Bradford threw for an Oklahoma record 468 yards Saturday against Kansas, passing Josh Heupel’s previous mark from ’99, and its not the only damage he’s done to the Sooner record books. Bradford threw for five touchdowns two weeks ago against Texas, tying the record set by both Jason White and Josh Heupel.
Last season, Bradford set an NCAA freshman record by throwing 36 touchdown passes, shattering Colt McCoy’s previous record of 29. As a redshirt freshman, he broke another Oklahoma record, throwing for 363 passing yards in the first half against North Texas. Josh Heupel held the previous record with 350. The very next game, Bradford completed 22 consecutive passes, also best among Sooner quarterbacks.
Perhaps most importantly, Bradford is now part of a 22-game home winning streak that is three games shy of the all-time mark set by Bud Wilkinson’s back-to-back national championship teams of the 1950’s.
So by the time all is said and done for Bradford, the names in the Oklahoma record books could just as easily become known, collectively, as “Sam’s Club.”
Boomer Sooner.
The world of recreational golf is unique from most any other area of society in that it’s okay to ask a person, “Who’s in your dream foursome?”
Which is why it’s a good bet that every hack with a polo shirt and a putter also keeps a short list of movie stars and world leaders with whom they’d love to tee it up.
Sam Bradford once played 110 holes of golf in one day at Lions Fun Park in Edmond, and that's not just a one-up attempt at Wade Boggs. (CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN)
Back in the clubhouse, where a round of golf will inevitably succumb to a round of Miller Light, this conversation amongst the Sooner Dudes begins and ends with Bob Stoops, who it’s well known can be found in the off-season playing Oak Tree Country Club in Edmond or Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.
But these days, while CapitolSooner favors hitting the books over hitting the links, the Dudes find their foursome one man short.
Enter scratch golfer Sam Bradford.
Bradford and a couple buddies once played 110 holes in one day at Lions Fun Park, a par-3 course in Edmond, Okla. That’s not just to thumb his nose at Wade Boggs, about whom a College Gameday sign was once inked, “Wade Boggs once drank 64 beers on a cross-country flight.” Bradford’s six-round day was actually reported in a June issue of The Oklahoman. And though Boggs offered this hilarious reminiscence on an episode of PTI last year — “Put it this way, it was a few Miller Lights” — Bradford’s recollection was perhaps more revealing that his claim is more than just a Chuck Norris Fact — “We just kept going. I think I slept well that night.”
That’s a man I want helping me read putts.
Fast-forward a few years from now to the first-annual Soonerdudes.com golf tournament at Jimmy Austin Golf Club. Stoops, Bradford, SchoonerPhil and myself on the first tee box. I imagine the conversation going something like this:
Me: “Man, you guys are awesome. We never miss a game.”
Stoops: “No, you guys are awesome. We never miss a weekly Pick ‘em.”
SchoonerPhil: “Hey remember when you guys beat Bama to make it No. 8 in ‘08?”
Bradford: “Yeah, that was pretty cool, but remember when you guys posted the new fried food menu for the Texas State Fair?”
I digress.
Only one of these Tigers is safe from Sam Bradford this season.
After watching Bradford’s segment Saturday morning with ESPN Intern Desmond Howard, the Sooner Dudes are more appreciative of his golf-pro demeanor, especially contrasted with a typically brash Chase Daniel blowing hard later on the same program about dropping the football only once during practice (No one, especially Allen Iverson, is impressed.)
Moreover, Bradford is now ahead of Daniel in quarterback rating (209.05-193.39), touchdowns (16-12) and of course, head-to-head victories (3-0).
So with the Sooners’ quarterback admitting he’s lost a bit on his swing — He’s now a “3 or 4 handicap” — there may be only one Tiger that remains safe from Sam Bradford this season.
Boomer Sooner.
Some say its lonely at the top, but how would they know?
(Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman)
With a convincing 35-10 win over No. 23 TCU on Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners regained their rightful position as the No. 1 college football team in all the land. This week’s ranking in the Associated Press Poll gives the Sooners their 96th week ranked at the top.
Yes, you read that right, 96 weeks. More than any other college football team in history. Now that is what I call tradition.
After an almost 5 year absence as the No. 1 team, guess what college football? We’re baaaaack.
Our return to the top has also returned that well known Sooner SWAGGER. The swarming defense and dangerously potent offense.
Many Sooner fans, including this Sooner Dude, thinks our swagger left along with brother Mike Stoops. Well, it has made its return under the name Sam Bradford. His quiet confidence, eerily similar to that of Jason White and Josh Heupel, has given this Sooners team a true leader and a rallying point. Confidence in the QB position allows the other Sooners to do what they do best, play OU football.
So I’m not asking you, I’m telling you, stay tuned for weeks 97-105. It might be lonely.
