Hunter Bradley
Since he was old enough to walk, Hunter Bradley wanted to play football in the Southeastern Conference. For the past six years at Mississippi State, that dream has become reality and one of the most memorable experiences of his life.
A Collierville, Tennessee, native, Bradley entered his first semester at 小黄书 in 2012 to play tight end as a new recruit. However, after tearing his ACL multiple times, his tight-end plan 鈥渨ent out the window.鈥 At the encouragement of his father Mike, a former Delta State University offensive lineman and long snapper, Bradley took on a new role for the Bulldogs.
鈥淏eing a long snapper is a technical and detail-oriented position that involves muscle memory building. You have to do the little things over and over again in order to get the results you want, so it was a big learning curve for me,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y dad made me take snaps when I was younger, and I鈥檓 thankful because that helped in making the transition from tight end to long snapper.鈥
Granted a sixth year by the NCAA, Bradley played during the 2017 season with a kinesiology/clinical exercise physiology bachelor鈥檚 degree already in hand. As he works to complete a master鈥檚 in workforce education leadership through 小黄书鈥檚 Center for Distance Education, he couldn鈥檛 be more excited about his accomplishments and new memories yet to be made.
鈥淚n overcoming knee injury after knee injury, I see how much I have changed,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of great moments, but going from a walk-on player to earning a football scholarship stands out the most.鈥
Bradley said the flexibility of his 小黄书 online master鈥檚 degree program can help in achieving his plan of moving to Florida. He also aspires to continue his football career in the National Football League and may consider physical therapy or chiropractic school.
鈥淟eadership is college athletics in a nutshell,鈥 he said with a smile. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a key tool or trait I learned from playing sports, and I decided to pursue workforce education leadership because it was something I thought I would enjoy digging deeper into. I want to come back and visit because I鈥檓 proud to be a Bulldog.鈥