Cecil Rhodes "Tex" Bradford (August 15, 1899 – January 27, 1975) was a

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 and a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

Early years

Bradford was born on August 15, 1899, in

Mansfield, Texas Mansfield is a suburban city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The city is located mostly in Tarrant County, with small parts in Ellis and Johnson counties. Its location is approximately 30 miles from Dalla ...

, to James Frederick Bradford and Susan Virginia Hobson.

College football

Tex was a prominent tackle for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

; and

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American college football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and a ...

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

from

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, winning Southern championships both his years there. He graduated from Vanderbilt with an M. D. in 1924.

TCU

Bradford first played for

, making All-Texas teams.

Vanderbilt

1921

In his first game with the Commodores, Tex was forced to wear civilian shoes until Vanderbilt received its order for cleats big enough to fit his feet. Vanderbilt later played a game against

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

at the

Texas State Fair The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas at historic Fair Park. The fair has taken place every year since 1886 except for varying periods during World War I and World War II as well as 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ...

. Vandy would upset the powerful Longhorns eleven 20 to 0. The first score came on a third down at some point near the middle of the second quarter. Texas' Ivan Robertson, with the Commodores' Tom Ryan and Bradford running after him, threw a pass not near a single Longhorn; which was intercepted by Vanderbilt's captain Pink Wade. Wade returned the interception for 65 yards and the touchdown.

1922

Tex was a starter for the scoreless tie with the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

at the dedication of

Dudley Field FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vander ...

. His defense that day received praise."Powerful Wolverine Eleven Held To Scoreless Tie By Commodores."
Augusta Chronicle 1922 Oct. 15 "Thousands of cheering Vanderbilt fans inspired the surge of center Alf Sharp, guard Gus Morrow, tackle Tex Bradford, and end

Lynn Bomar Robert Lynn Bomar (January 21, 1901 – June 11, 1964) was an American football End (gridiron football), end in the National Football League (NFL). Bomar played college football, basketball and baseball for Vanderbilt University, following ...

, who stopped Michigan cold in four attempts." He was elected to four All-Southern teams in 1922.e. g. To the woe of Commodore fans, on October 10, 1923, Bradford was ruled ineligible on grounds of having already played four years of college athletics. His loss was lamented so near the eve of the

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

game, for his line work against them was "materially responsible" for the 0 to 0 tie the year before.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Tex American football tackles Vanderbilt Commodores football players 1899 births 1975 deaths Players of American football from Mansfield, Texas Players of American football from Ellis County, Texas Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Texas TCU Horned Frogs football players