Twenty-four hours after kissing the Vince Lombardi trophy as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs' coaching staff, things were starting to sink in with Terry Bradden.
Well, as best they can. In five short years, he's gone from coaching a 1-8 high school team in his home town to winning the biggest game on the planet. Kind of hard to process all at once.
There was, however, a most assured sense of gratitude to two people and an organization.
Um, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' front office?
Nope.
"God, Terry Sims and Bethune-Cookman University," Bradden said emphatically. "Yesterday wouldn't have been possible without them."
OK, BCU was just a stepping stone in Bradden's warp speed ride to professional football posterity. He was a graduate assistant in 2016, working with the quarterbacks. [That was the year BCU beat Florida A&M 39-19 in the Florida Blue Florida Classic. Just sayin'.] He did all the grunt work a graduate assistant is supposed to do and then everything else Sims asked of him in addition, and did it well.
"Everything that's happened speaks volumes to how hard he works," said Sims, who has known Bradden since his high school days. "He's earned this. I couldn't be prouder."
Football, of all the sports, is the one most affected by success being determined by being at the right place, at the right time, with the right people in the right system. Kurt Warner was a former grocery store clerk who went 0-2 in arena football championships … and won a Super Bowl. Tom Brady was an unheralded sixth round draft pick when he inherited the New England Patriots job. And does Jerry Rice become the greatest receiver of all time in an EAST coast offense?
Same with our BCU Big Game guys. Larry Little was an undrafted free agent shipped from San Diego to Miami just as Don Shula was about to assemble one of the most prolific running trios in the game's history and Little just happened to be one heck of a pulling guard. Nick Collins didn't have as flashy a BCU career as Rashean Mathis, but developed and flourished in Green Bay's defensive scheme. Eric Weems thrived on special teams. Maulty Moore was a role player, and has two rings to show for it.
Bradden came to BCU after a college quarterback career with stops at Howard -- when Sims was an assistant there -- and Tuskegee. He first went back home to Inlet Grove High School and coached his alma mater. The 1-8 mark was actually an improvement – the program had endured two winless seasons prior to that.
Anyone who knows Bradden knows he's a focused grinder who's put in the work. This is the part where the hard work creates the opportunity.
January 2017 comes around and the NFL invites Bethune-Cookman staff to help out with the Pro Bowl in Orlando. Someone from the compliance department was originally slated to work, but the spot became available and Sims suggested it go to Bradden.
The door was open. Next stop? Breakfast.
Bradden's eating and strikes up a conversation with the guy sitting at the table.
"How can I help you?" the man asks.
"I just said, 'I want to learn the game,' Bradden recalled.
The guy was Emmitt Thomas, a Hall of Fame cornerback and then-Chiefs defensive back coach.
A few minutes later, Bradden's chatting with Ted Crews, the Chiefs' PR guy –one of the best in the business-- and a product of South Carolina State.
Crew introduces him to Reid, the former BYU offensive guard whose post-season struggles were legendary prior to this year.
Two weeks later, Reid's interviewing Bradden for an open position as Defensive Quality Control Coach.
The rest is history still being written.
[Yes, we also just validated the continued existence of the Pro Bowl. Deal with it.]
BCU was playing a role behind the scenes. Of course, the Chiefs called Sims, whose network in the league is solid both football-wise and frat brother-wise. [For the record, Bradden's a Phi Beta Sigma]. Bradden found a mentor on the Chief's staff in the person of Eric Bienemy, offensive coordinator of the Chiefs and an Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother of Sims.
Once situated, Bradden began to make his mark.
"Coach Sims prepared me well for this situation," Bradden said. "Football is football. Cover 2 is Cover 2. Cover 3 is Cover 3. If you're good, you're going to get found. You can't let people put you in a box."
The first of hopefully many pay-offs was beating the 49ers. When did Bradden know he had made it?
"You've been on I-95 a lot and you know how busy that road gets," Bradden said. "Well, we're going to the stadium the week during the game and there's 16-17 police cars clearing the way for us. We had the road to ourselves. I'm going "wow."
"Once the first [offensive] series is done, that's when it settles down," Bradden said.
Will it ever settle down? Bradden's 29 and is now part of Reid's celebrated coaching tree. The Chiefs aren't going anywhere for a while. Still, Belichick's showing signs of age and you never know in this business. Opportunities are always going to be there.
Bradden laughs.
"For now, just keep getting better and keep helping the Chiefs get better," Bradden said. "God will continue to bless as he has now, and blessed me to be at Bethune-Cookman. Hail Wildcats."
