Former FSU star Bradham brings the love (even tough love) back home
CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. -- This was supposed to be the happiest part of Nigel Bradham's annual youth football camp.
The drills had been run. The passes were thrown and caught. Even the free Zaxby's lunches and refreshments had been devoured by the dozens of campers and volunteers.
Now it was time for Bradham, the former Florida State star and current Philadelphia Eagles linebacker, to give out some prizes to the campers -- with the biggest gifts being at least 20 brand-new bicycles.
As the hot afternoon sun beat down, Bradham hand-delivered most of the bikes to the children with a smile or a kind word. But one of the campers, in particular, got a whole lot more.
When Bradham called 10-year-old Javion Davis over, he held the boxed bicycle firm in both hands before him. He then spoke quietly -- but sternly -- to the Woodville Elementary fifth-grader for a good two minutes.
The NFL standout, who is entering his eighth year in the league, told Davis he liked the way he competed in the camp. He said the young man stood out to him because he is an aspiring linebacker -- the same position Bradham has played for most of his life.
But then he got to the heart of the matter.
Staring straight into Davis' eyes, Bradham told him he could see his obvious football talent, but he added that none of that would matter if he didn't start dedicating himself to academics as well as athletics.
"Just like when you play football, you're great at that, right?" Bradham asked as Davis nodded his head in the affirmative. "Put that into your school work."
Bradham wasn't singling the camper out randomly. Just a few minutes earlier, Davis' mother, Lucretia Crawford of Tallahassee, had told Bradham that she was having trouble keeping him motivated in school.
"I told him he's good with football, he's just got to get better with his grades," Crawford said.
That was all Bradham needed to hear.
First, he admitted to the youngster that he didn't "love" school when he was a child, either. But he realized that doing well in academics was the only way he could eventually become successful and make a difference for his family. Bradham told Davis that he needed to focus on positive things and not follow the wrong crowd.
After encouraging -- and lecturing -- the young camper, Bradham then gave him a dap and told him he wanted to hear a better report at next year's camp. He made Davis promise that he'd make a change.
"Letting them know it's not just about football," Bradham explained in an interview later. "There's more to it."
Bradham, who has been holding the camp in his hometown every summer for the last four years, said he always wants to make sure that youths leave with more than just improved football skills.
He believes children today face more challenges than ever because of the availability of technology and a frequent lack of supervision.
"Back when I was in school, we didn't have iPads," he said. "We had video games, but nobody was going home to play them all day after school. We were either in tutoring or we were doing some after-school activity -- whether it was sports, whether it was track, anything."
Wakulla High School football coach Scott Klees, who was Bradham's coach when he was the nation's No. 1 outside linebacker in the class of 2008, said he is never surprised by the star athlete's good deeds.
"He always gives back," Klees said. "He donates all the time to the high school. And we're actually going to redo the weight room this year with his donation. So I can't tell you how proud we are to have someone with his character be a part of us."
Bradham can't do it alone, of course. Former FSU and NFL linebacker Nick Moody came up from Miami to lend a hand, as did two vans full of current Florida State players, who made the drive down from Tallahassee.
One of Bradham's former teammates from the Buffalo Bills, defensive end Kyle Moore, also came out, as did more than a dozen friends and family as volunteers.
"It was love, man," Bradham said of FSU's coaches sending their players down. He said he could see that the current Seminoles were having a major impact on the campers while leading different drills.
"That's important to tie that in together," Bradham said. "To give them those goals to be able to reach."
Thanks to Bradham and his sponsors, no one left the free camp empty-handed. There were other prizes besides the bicycles, and everyone who attended received free lunch.
Bradham also signed autographs for about a half-hour afterward.
"It was real fun," said Javion Davis, the aspiring linebacker who was on the receiving end of Bradham's post-camp lecture. "I got to learn a lot of stuff that I hadn't learned before."
Davis was speaking specifically about football.
Perhaps through Bradham's efforts, he went home with even more.
