His senior football season was shortened by injury, but defensive lineman Bradley Wright will get to extend his football career for another four years. Wright has signed to play football at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
“When I think of Bradley I think about a motor. He’s got a great motor. He never quits on a play. He never quits at practice,” says coach Wes Beachler.
Wright was first-team all-district and second-team all-conference, despite playing only about half a season after being sidelined with a foot injury. Beachler says those honors were a sign of the respect coaches have for the way Wright plays football.
“This probably sounds like an insult but it’s not: he’s like the Forrest Gump of the football program. He will do exactly what he’s coached to do, and won’t ask questions; just goes out and what he’s asked to do,” says Beachler. “We saw him neutralize some really good offensive linemen all year. It made it tough on our defense when he got injured in that Carthage game and he couldn’t eat up double teams and eat up offensive linemen and people were able to get to our second level.”
To Wright, the effort that made him a standout was the only playing style that made sense.
“Whenever you’re doing something, you need to do it 100%. If you’re not doing it 100%, you might as well not do it at all,” he says. “I feel like if I’m asked to do something, I need to give it my all to do it.”
Next fall, Wright will take that effort and intensity to St. Mary, which competes in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
“It’s a good school. It’s a smaller campus, so I feel like I get part of a family atmosphere with the football team,” Wright says. “A lot of people on campus are fellow athletes, so there’s a lot of support among students there.
“Being able to play college ball is…a dream I’ve had since I was a kid playing peewee. I’ll be able to get an education, get a job when I get out, and get to play a sport I love for another four years.”
And even though Wright won’t be wearing the Orange and Black next year, he’s left a mark on the program in Republic, which Beachler summed up in his message during Wright’s signing ceremony.
“You’ll be one of those kids we always remember,” he told Wright, “because of how you played the game, how coachable you were, how hard you worked every second you were out there.”
