How Sam Bradford Wrecked His Reputation, and How He Can Fix It

If you want to make the entire football world hate you, here’s a step-by step guide: 

Step 1. Have a lackluster season, the latest in a disappointing career.

Step 2. Sign an eight-figure contract.

Step 3. Complain about having to fight to keep your job before your bonus check even direct deposits.

Come to think of it, that’s a great way to make anyone in any profession hate you.

Sam Bradford stuffed his reputation down a garbage disposal over the last three weeks, then poured some kerosene down the drain, lit a match and blew up the neighborhood plumbing system. The oft-injured journeyman with a 25-37-1 career record demanded a trade after the Eagles moved up in the draft to select rookie challenger/likely replacement Carson Wentz. Bradford held out of OTAs for a week. There were retirement whispers. At one point, Bradford reportedly stopped answering his phone when Eagles coach Doug Pederson called him. 

According to Sal Pal on ESPN, Sam Bradford isn’t answering phone calls from Doug Pederson right now.

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) April 29, 2016

Two months after signing a two-year contract worth $22 million guaranteed, Bradford did everything short of sawing his arm off to get away from Philadelphia.

And now Bradford is back. He returned Monday with a graciously rescinded trade demand and a white- hankie-on-a-stick of an official statement (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter):

I’m excited to be back on the field today with my teammates and coaches. The business-side of football is sometimes a necessary consideration. My attention and efforts are focused on the participation in and preparation for a championship season: I am committed to my teammates and the Eagles organization for nothing less.

Bradford’s tail is not tucked between his legs. It’s detached, Eeyore-style. Returning was Bradford’s only sensible option, but returning so soon actually makes him look worse. If he held out until August, he would at least look like a man of conviction: foolish conviction, but still conviction. Now, he just looks like the guy who threw a tantrum and quit during a staff meeting trying to sneak back from lunch as if nothing had happened.

Bradford doesn’t just have a public-perception problem. He has an NFL-perception problem. Bradford’s professionalism was one of his biggest calling cards as the paper yellowed and the type faded on the old scouting reports that made him the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. You would be surprised at how many people around the league pointed back to Bradford’s college reputation during discussions of last year’s Eagles-Rams trade as if those evaluations were fresh.

The Eagles weren’t the only team who still saw superstar potential in Bradford, so long as that talent came with the dedication and commitment to overcome his many injuries, make up for lost seasons and reclaim what ACL tears and ineffective systems had taken from him. Bradford checked off the “model employee” box on most scouting reports, and that’s one of the few attributes that gets stronger, not weaker, as a quarterback ages.

Talent, experience and intangibles might make a quarterback worth $35 million over two years in the current market. But throw those intangibles into question and we …

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