Brad Craddock (born 24 June 1992) is an Australian former

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 ...

player who was a

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

. He was a first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, winning the

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns ...

in 2014.

Early life

Craddock was born in Adelaide to Raymond and Leonie Craddock. He attended Tabor Christian College. He began learning to punt at the age of 8 while playing

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

. Craddock attended OzPunt, a developmental program for aspiring punters, placekickers, and holders in American football. He left the program with a 4.5/5 rating and as the top kicking prospect in Australia in 2012. Craddock enrolled in the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

soon after graduating the program.

College career

At tall, Craddock was initially supposed to play as a punter with the Maryland Terrapins. Instead, he was moved to the position of placekicker. As a result, he encountered many difficulties in his first year with the team. He finished the season with only 10 of 16 field goals made, posting a 62.5 success rate, and 3 of 5 successful attempts at field goals beyond , including one from beyond . He also handled kickoff duties for the Terrapins. Under the tutelage of former

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

kicker and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

player

Matt Stover John Matthew Stover (born January 27, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. After five seasons for the Clevelan ...

, Craddock's stats improved greatly in his second season with the Terrapins. In one of his career highlights, Craddock converted 3 field goals, including one from , help the Terrapins to a 37–0 win over

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. Craddock entered the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

along with the Terrapins. In a game against

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, Craddock kicked a field goal with less than a minute to go for the Terrapins to take the lead. The Terrapins won 20–19 and became bowl-eligible. After the kick, Maryland

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Randy Edsall Randy Douglas Edsall (born August 27, 1958) is an American former American football, football coach who recently served as the head football coach for UConn Huskies football, Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2017 until his abrupt reti ...

summarized the game with one quote, "Let the rivalry begin." He finished the year having made 18 of 19 field goals for a 94.7 percent success rate. He posted a long of and his lone miss came on his last kick of the season from out. Craddock earned national recognition as a 2nd team All American award, and received the

, awarded annually to the United States's most effective collegiate placekicker.

Records

In his three years of collegiate football, Craddock has accrued several records. As of 2014, he has scored the most consecutive

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, a ...

in the history of the

and the entire Big Ten Conference (24 field goals), as well as the longest field goal in Terrapins history ( against

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

). Craddock also recorded the highest per-season conversion rate in the school's history (94.7%) as well as the highest career field goal conversion rate (81.7%).

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

, Craddock signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on 5 May 2016.

Personal life

Brad Craddock has two siblings: Alanah and Jacqui. He majored in agricultural and resource economics with a focus on

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

. Craddock grew up in his home town of Adelaide, Australia, the namesake of his nickname, The Adelaide Kid.

Statistics

Through the end of the 2014 regular season, Craddock's statistics are as follows:

References

External links

Maryland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Brad Living people American football placekickers American football punters Maryland Terrapins football players All-American college football players Australian players of American football Sportspeople from Adelaide Cleveland Browns players 1992 births Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States