NFL: Sam Bradford Will Accomplish Rare College/Pro Feat

Sam Bradford’s alma mater will be unveiling a statue in his honor in Oklahoma’s Heisman Park.  The 10' 1200 lb. piece may not be the last time he gains a distinction alongside the Heisman trophy itself.

After a promising rookie campaign, Bradford is ready to take the next step in his NFL career.  Admittedly, I was a major doubter of Bradford. 

When he was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, I felt the St.Louis Rams had made a mistake.

Ndamukong Suh would have been a safer pick in my opinion.  Bradford was coming off a shoulder injury that scared me, plus I wasn’t really sold on him being a franchise NFL QB.  

After playing all 16 games of his first NFL season, I was impressed with his play and production.  When you put his year in the proper perspective, it was major reason for optimism in St.Louis.

Bradford is without a proven No. 1 receiver.  With all due respect to Danny Amendola, he is not a big-time target on par with the weapons some other NFL QBs have at their disposal. 

Still, Bradford completed 60 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,512 yards.  He did throw almost as many INTs as TDs, but that is expected for just about any rookie QB starting from day one. 

That is unless the team babysits the play calling the way the Steelers did for Ben Roethlisberger his rookie season. 

Bradford didn’t have the same luxuries as Roethlisberger, so with the kid gloves off he put together a solid first season. 

I was very impressed with Bradford’s poise, leadership and arm strength.  He isn’t Brett Favre, but he isn’t Chad Pennington either. 

If you combine his intangibles, the Rams' running game and the up and coming defense led by Chris Long, Bradford has a chance to be special.

How special?  How about becoming the first Heisman Trophy winner to win the NFL MVP since Barry Sanders in 1988. 

It is not impossible but probably won’t happen this year.  But within the next three seasons, Bradford has as good a chance as any player.

Keep in mind, he is only 23.  While 18 TDs and 15 INTs may not make you do cartwheels, remember Peyton Manning’s rookie season. 

The greatest pre-snap, regular season QB in the history of the NFL put up very worrisome totals of 26 TDs and 28 INTs when he was handed the keys to the ride in his first season.

First year starters will always struggle.  Given that, leading his team to contention for a playoff spot in the last week of the season is no small feat for a rookie QB.

Many will highlight the Rams only scoring six points in last year’s season finale and say Bradford and the offense choked. 

That game was played in the closest thing to a hostile college football environment in the NFL, Qwest Field.

The Seahawks are no easy task to defeat at home.  Don’t believe me? 

Check out what happened the following week in the NFC playoffs, as the great Drew Brees and the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints fell there at the hands of the 12th man and Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch.

Bradford is the real deal and barring injury in 2011 the rest of the sports world will join me in the Sam Bradford MVP countdown.

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