Sam Bradford Heisman QB

While the city’s agog with the signing of DeMarco Murray – (1) he’s with the Eagles and (2) he’s no longer with the Cowboys – I’m taking a step back to take one more look at the trade that brought Sam Bradford to the Eagles.

And it’s a squinty-eyed look at that.

In case you don’t remember, Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy in 2008 as a 19-year-old sophomore at Oklahoma. That’s correct: he won the Heisman during his sophomore year.

Make no doubt about it, he played superbly that year – 328-for-483 passing – which is a gaudy 67.9 completion percentage. And believe it or not, that was nearly two points lower than his 69.5 percent the year before as a freshman.

In that 2008 season, Bradford threw for 4,720 yards in 14 games – good for 50 TDs while throwing only 8 INTs. Those numbers propelled him to becoming a consensus All-American and finishing first in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Remember – sophomore season.

So right now you just might be asking: What about his junior season?

Or did he forego his junior season to turn pro?

“No” is the answer to the latter question. He passed on the 2009 NFL draft to return to Oklahoma for his junior season.

Okay, so what happened in his junior year?

Oklahoma opened the season with Brigham Young and Bradford sprained the acromioclavicular joint (AC joint) in his throwing shoulder during the first half.

He missed three weeks.

Upon his return against Baylor in Game 5, Bradford played as if he’d never been injured. He completed 27-of-49 passes for 389 yards and a touchdown as the Sooners shellacked the Baylor Bears 33-7. Sam Bradford not only was back, but he was also back to Heisman form.

But the following week against Texas, he re-injured his throwing shoulder during the game’s second drive – the shoulder requiring season-ending surgery. Bradford missed the final seven games of the season – making it ten games he missed on the season.

That said, the St. Louis Rams selected him with the first overall selection in the 2010 NFL draft.

Now, in case you missed my article on Heisman QBs a week or so ago, Heisman-winning quarterbacks have a less-than-glorious history in regard to success in the NFL. You can go back and read the article at your leisure, but here’s the gist of it:

– 33 quarterbacks have won the Heisman since the trophy’s inception way back in 1935.

– Only three Heisman QBs have ever won an NFL Championship and/or the Super Bowl.

– And one of those Heisman QBs didn’t play quarterback in the NFL.

Paul Hornung won three NFL Championships with the Green Bay Packers – 1961, 1962, and 1965 – plus he also won Super Bowl I with the Pack in 1966. But Vince Lombardi transformed Notre Dame’s “Golden Boy” from a quarterback into a running back and used Bart Starr as his quarterback.

Roger Staubach led the Dallas Cowboys to a 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI in 1972 and also led them to a 27-10 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII in 1978.

Jim Plunkett led the Oakland Raiders to a 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV in 1981, and he also led the Los Angeles Raiders to a 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.