Texas Tech received a trio of offensive line commits on Sunday with Mineral Wells (TX) offensive tackle Troy Bradshaw topping off the big day with his afternoon announcement.
Being the third OL commit in one day wasn’t always the plan for Bradshaw, though. In fact, at this time last year, being able to commit to any school seemed like a distant possibility.
“I started thinking, and I thought before the season in August would have been a great time to make an announcement. I started thinking even more, and I thought about pushing it up to this upcoming Wednesday. Wednesday would have marked one year ago when I was admitted to the hospital. On that day, I thought my dreams of playing Division 1 football were over because I thought it was going to cause too much of a setback.”
Around this time last year, Bradshaw was diagnosed with Osteomyelitis, a staph infection in the bone. Bradshaw’s infection was found in the center of his spine, which hospitalized him for over a week, and he was in the ICU for three of those days. After getting out, he was told to not do anything for 6 weeks. He couldn’t pick up anything and he couldn’t run or jog. With two-a-days around the corner, Bradshaw found himself weighing only 218 pounds.
After missing two-a-days and scrimmages and only weighing in at 230 pounds for his entire junior season, Bradshaw’s career beyond high school ball was up in the air. Once Bradshaw started putting his weight back on (he is now 280 pounds), the ability that he showed during his junior season plus his now filled out frame, made him an attractive prospect once again as he racked up multiple offers over the past few months.
The culmination of Bradshaw’s efforts came last Sunday when he picked up his dream offer from Texas Tech. Then when Bradshaw found out that the OL commits were starting to roll in, he wasted no time in jumping on board as quickly as possible.
“I had always thought I was going to commit to Texas Tech,” Bradshaw said. “I was going to visit Baylor today, just to see everything and the coaches wanted to see me, but I didn’t think there was anything that they could show me that would pull me away from Texas Tech. I had gotten a text last night from coach Jones telling me that Clayton (Franks) and Weston (Wright) were committing today. At that point, I decided to cancel the Baylor visit and then I knew I couldn’t wait till Wednesday anymore because if I wait till Wednesday, I might not have the chance to play at the school I’ve wanted to play at since I was seven years old at my first Tech game.”
With his dad being a Texas Tech grad himself (he was also a Texas Tech cheerleader) and Bradshaw having been exposed to the Red Raiders at a very young age, the familiarity with Texas Tech really sealed the deal.
“I was sitting last night with my parents in the living room and we talked about it and talked about it. I stayed up till 12. They went to bed, and I went to my room and I couldn’t sleep. I prayed about it, and I thought about it. What really spoke to me was really just the idea of how comfortable and familiar I was with the place. I’m going to be comfortable there. It is going to be like a second home to me. I really love Lubbock. I really love Texas Tech.”
The 6-foot-7, 280-pound offensive tackle hopes his passion for the scarlet and black shows up on the field when he will be coming ready to work every single day, hoping to represent his dream school in the best way possible.
“I’m a hard worker. Whatever I set my mind to, I’m going to get done. I’m going to bring excitement to this team. I love this team, I have always loved this team. I love the town, I love the people, I love the fans. I’m a determined guy. I’m going to accomplish everything that the nutrition coach sets for me, that the strength coach sets for me, and that the coaches set for me. There’s no questions asked. I’m going to do whatever is asked, whether I have doubts or not. What they say goes, and I respect them.”
While Bradshaw was definitely excited to be able to commit to Texas Tech, no one could have been happier than his future position coach, Brandon Jones. Jones received three commits in one day, an impressive haul no matter how you slice it.
“He told me that it was a great Father’s Day present. With the three commits, Clayton, Weston, and I, Tech fans are going to be very happy. He tells me a lot that he definitely sees the potential in me to be a great college football player. He said he really believes that, which means a lot coming from him.”
Being back at full health, Bradshaw is ready to go to work this season and has set the bar high as he hopes to attain the highest status and be an All-State offensive lineman.
