Bradley Thomas Badger (born January 11, 1975) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

and tackle in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

and was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL draft.

Early life

Badger attended Corvallis High School in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Oregon, Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton Co ...

, and starred in football, basketball, and baseball. He was an All-American selection and rated Oregon's best prospect by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report at Corvallis High School. In six games as a senior tight end, he had 12 receptions for 260 yards and three touchdowns. As a junior, he earned honorable mention All-State honors, catching 18 passes for 252 yards and a score. Badger also lettered in baseball and basketball. He was named honorable mention All-State in basketball as a junior and first-team All-State in his senior year at center.

College career

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Badger was converted from a tight end into an offensive lineman. He was a three-year starter for the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, starting 34 of 35 games dating back to his sophomore year. As a senior, he was named to the All-Pac-10 first-team.

Professional career

1997 NFL Combine and Draft

Badger was invited to the 1997 NFL Combine held at the

RCA Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984–2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Badger's

20-yard shuttle The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

time of 4.13 seconds was the fastest of any offensive lineman that year, and to this day is still the fastest time by any offensive guard or tackle officially timed at the NFL Combine, having only been matched in 2017 by Jessamen Dunker of Tennessee State. Initially projected to be a late first day selection, Badger was selected in the fifth round on day two of the 1997 NFL draft by the

Washington Redskins

Badger started the season opener in his rookie season at right guard against the Carolina Panthers. He filled in for starter Tre Johnson, who was recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. In that start, Badger helped the Redskins to 198 rushing yards, their third-highest output of the season. He finished the season as a reserve, playing in 12 games. In Badger's second season, offensive line coach and former Redskins all-pro guard

Russ Grimm Russell Scott Grimm (born May 2, 1959) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Guard (American football), guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an a ...

and head coach

Norv Turner Norval Eugene Turner (born May 17, 1952) is an American football coach who is a senior advisor for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, Turner was the Dallas ...

, shuffled the offensive line around and moved Badger to left tackle. After ten starts at left tackle, Badger was moved back inside to left guard. He started all 16 games in 1998. In year three for Badger in DC, he was primarily used as a backup at offensive guard. He played in 14 games, missing 2 with an ankle injury, and started 4 games.

Minnesota Vikings

After playing for the Redskins for three seasons, Badger was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as a restricted free agent on April 10, 2000. The Redskins chose to not match the Vikings offer, and received a fifth round pick as compensation from the Vikings. Badger played exclusively as a backup in 2000 for the Vikings. In 2001, he moved into the starting lineup after longtime incumbent

Todd Steussie Todd Edward Steussie (; born December 1, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was selected ...

was released for cap considerations. Badger started 12 of 13 games at tackle, while battling injuries throughout the season.

Oakland Raiders

On April 11, 2002, Badger was signed to a one-year deal as an unrestricted free agent by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Badger played exclusively as a backup in 2002, however he did appear in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

where the Raiders were defeated by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. In his second season with the Raiders, Badger appeared in all 16 games at guard, starting 11 of them. In five seasons playing for the Raiders, Badger played in 62 games, starting 31 of them. Badger was released by the Raiders on April 21, 2007.

Arizona Cardinals

After early pre-season injuries occurred on the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

offensive line, the Cardinals needed to bolster there roster and Badger was signed on August 14, 2007. Badger was released by the Arizona Cardinals on September 10, 2007. As a vested veteran, the Cardinals would have been required to guarantee Badger's salary if he remained on the week one roster. Badger was quickly re-signed on September 13, 2007. He was cut again by the Arizona Cardinals on October 30, 2007.

Personal life

Badger is married to the former Mercedes Cisneros, daughter of

Henry Cisneros Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989, the second Latino mayor of a major American city and the city's first since 1842 (when Jua ...

. They dated and met at

. The couple have two daughters named Karina and Natalia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badger, Brad 1975 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Arizona Cardinals players Minnesota Vikings players Oakland Raiders players Stanford Cardinal football players Players of American football from Corvallis, Oregon Washington Redskins players Corvallis High School (Oregon) alumni