Danny Bradley was a former Oklahoma quarterback living in Dallas who offered to pay his son’s way at his alma mater if he would walk on as a wide receiver at the school after coaches weren’t interested in giving him a scholarship.
Mark Bradley had other ideas. The Bears’ second-round pick Saturday in the NFL draft declined his dad’s offer and opted to play at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a Div. I-AA school that was closer to his mother.
But during his sophomore year he tore a knee ligament and decided to transfer when he wasn’t pleased with the school’s rehab program.
He asked his father, who had played briefly with the Lions and Rams, if the tuition offer still stood. It did, and Mark was on his way to Oklahoma–as a cornerback because of the depth the Sooners had at wide receiver. But coaches and doctors made the determination he would play offense in part because of the knee injury.
Because of the transfer, Bradley was required to sit out a season, which he put to use studying the receiver position.
“It taught me more about the game,” Bradley said. “I learned how to run different routes against different coverages.”
Playing on a roster with receivers like Mark Clayton, a first-round selection of the Baltimore Ravens, Bradley started four games last season and caught a modest 23 passes, up from 11 his junior year. But he averaged 21 yards per catch and the Bears looked at the big-play potential.
The Bears’ first pick in the 1993 draft after Ron Turner was hired as offensive coordinator was wide receiver Curtis Conway, a selection made as much for speed and potential as for pure production. Now Turner is back and the Bears again went for speed on the edge after they had selected the running back they believe they need desperately.
The Bears could have traded up a few slots and taken another wideout or accepted an offer of a third-round pick to trade down. But they did not want to lose Bradley even though Georgia receiver Reggie Brown, taken four picks ahead of Bradley, caught almost as many passes his senior year (54) as Bradley did in his combined college career (58).
“We liked Brown very, very much; we think he’s more prepared [than Bradley] to come in and play right now,” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. “But Bradley brought something to us that we coveted more and that was speed. And he’s very, very tough. I can’t underscore his toughness enough as seen on special teams.
“He’ll be more of a work-in-progress but he certainly has taken giant steps given where he has come from and what he has overcome in a pretty good football program. We felt that he was the best one for us.”
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Mark Bradley
Wide receiver, Oklahoma
Second round, No. 39
Height: 6-1
Weight: 201
College highlights: Bradley walked on at Oklahoma and played receiver, held for kicks, returned punts and kickoffs, and covered punts and kickoffs. He caught 34 passes, nine for touchdowns, in two seasons with the Sooners. He tore his ACL playing at Arkansas-Pine Bluff as a sophomore and transferred. Spectacular (4.42 40-yard dash) speed.
Bears plan: Bradley will challenge for a starting job this season and has the size and speed to become team’s No. 1 deep threat in an offense that will use three WRs extensively. Special teams play a draft consideration and he will be tried on punt and kickoff returns.
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jmullin@tribune.com
