William Craig Bradshaw (born August 14, 1957) is a former professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

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) for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. He is the younger brother of

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

quarterback

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 1994, he has been a television sports an ...

Early life and family

Bradshaw was born on August 14, 1957 in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. His parents, William Bradshaw and Novis Gay, were longtime residents of Shreveport with his mother growing up in

Red River Parish Red River Parish () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,620, making it the fourth-least populous parish in Louisiana. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Coushatta. It ...

, just an hour north of the city. He is the youngest of three sons born to the couple, the other two being Gary and

four-time

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

champion

. The brothers were only the second set of brothers to play quarterback in the NFL, following Ed and

Joey Sternaman Joseph Theodore Sternaman (February 1, 1900 – March 10, 1988) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for eight seasons for the Chicago Bears and Duluth Kelleys of the National Football League (NFL). At 5'6" and 13 ...

in 1927 and were the first quarterbacks to play opposite one another in a game. Bradshaw attended Southwood High School in Shreveport between 1973 and 1977. He became his high school football team's starting quarterback as a junior in 1975. In addition to football, Bradshaw participated on the school's

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team, where he threw

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

. In 1975, Bradshaw participated in Louisiana's district championships as a thrower.

College career

Bradshaw played college football for his brothers' alma mater

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

in 1977. In his lone season with the Bulldogs, he completed 12 passes on 35 attempts for 143 yards and an interception. He transferred to

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal land-grant institution, Utah State serv ...

in 1978 where he played for two seasons. In his career with Utah State, he completed 44.7% of his passes (55-of-123) for 1,055 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.

College statistics

Professional career

Bradshaw was drafted in the 7th round (182nd overall) of the

1980 NFL draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

by the

and he played a total of two games in the 1980 season. He threw for no touchdowns or interceptions, however, the team was able to record victories in both games over 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 ...

and

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

. He was let go from the team in the 1981 off season. In 1982, he signed with the

. Though he was with the team for two seasons, he did not see the field once as he sat behind

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982. He also h ...

and

Ken Stabler Kenneth Michael Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played col ...

during his tenure.

NFL career statistics

References

1957 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football quarterbacks Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Utah State Aggies football players Houston Oilers players 20th-century American sportsmen {{quarterback-1950s-stub