The fathers of Sam Bradford and the Griffin brothers talk sports, parenting, and winning the game of life.
Sports fans across the state are celebrating the crowning of new royalty. In an unprecedented athletic season at OU, football quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy while basketball co-captain Taylor Griffin led his team, including future NBA star and brother Blake Griffin, to an Elite Eight appearance. Oh, and Blake also won the Naismith and John Wooden awards, two of collegiate basketball’s top honors. It has been a remarkable season.
That all three young men grew up in the Oklahoma City metro is even more remarkable. As the season progressed and these athletes displayed not only talent and determination, but character and humility too, metro fans could hardly contain their support and pride for the hometown heroes. And none were prouder than their parents.
Kent Bradford, father of Sam, and Tommy Griffin, father of Taylor and Blake, recently sat down with us to talk about parenting, sports, and winning in the game of life. Before all the media coverage and fan adoration, both the Griffin and the Bradford families were simply focused on raising sons right and sharing the joy of sports with them.
Griffin and Bradford both remember how they felt when they found out they were going to be fathers. “It was one of the most exciting days of my life,” said Bradford. “I felt I could probably lift the world,” echoed Griffin. “My wife surprised me. She handed me a basketball and said, ‘Do you think you could teach someone to play ball with this?’ I said, ‘I’m a coach. That’s what I do.’ She replied, ‘Then you’ll need to teach your own son.’”
Bradford, who is an insurance salesman, remembers Sam’s earliest sports experience. “He started tee-ball and ice hockey when he was five. There weren’t a lot of Oklahoma kids playing ice hockey. There was a lot of contact [between the kids] but it wasn’t intentional. They were just out-of-control a lot.”
Basketball coach Griffin noticed athletic talent in his sons early on. “Taylor was playing tee-ball, and Blake was four-years-old. We were winning, so Blake got a chance to hit the ball. The first time he hit it, he had a double, the second time, he had a triple. Every time he hit it, it went to the fence. He was only four. We started thinking, ‘Huh, maybe there’s a future there.’”
Growing up, both families emphasized playing a variety of sports rather than focusing only on one. Griffin said, “Blake and Taylor played tee-ball, then baseball, basketball, soccer and football. At one point, they were both given the opportunity to play on an elite traveling soccer team. But if you aren’t careful, soccer, like basketball, can go all year round. It didn’t sound good to them because they wanted to have some free time, and we wanted them to have free time too. “Some coaches will tell [students], ‘The only way you are going to be able to reach the top is if you stay with it all year round.’ And that’s not fair. They need to be able to be a kid.”
Bradford agreed. He said, “Sam playing lots of sports [basketball, football and golf] was a great thing. I get upset at these junior high guys that think kids need to start specializing in one sport. I would recommend that the kids play everything they want to play. It needs to be something they enjoy. In my opinion, one reason Sam did not [burnout] is that as soon as he’d get tired of one sport, there’d be another one. And several months later, there’d
be another one.”
Athletic competition provided the opportunity for both dads to share life lessons with their sons. Griffin remembered a soccer game when Taylor was the goalie and the game was tied. “This last kid came in and Taylor dove for the ball, but didn’t get his hands behind the ball. He rolled to try to catch it before it crossed the line… and it crossed the line. He was totally dejected.”
Griffin pulled his son aside for a heart-to-heart. “I told him there are going to be times when you have good days and bad days, and not just in sports. I asked him, ‘Did you give your best?’ He said, ‘Yeah Dad, I did.’ I told him, ‘Then you have nothing to be worried about, nothing to be ashamed of. ‘Cause you gave your best.’”
Bradford recalled an early lesson for young Sam in the ice hockey rink. “About a week after Sam started playing hockey, he said, ‘Momma, I don’t really like this hockey.’ His coach was an ex-NHL player and a nice guy, but a little rough. He used language that Sam hadn’t heard before.” Kent and Sam talked about the importance of finishing what you start. “I tried to stress with Sam that sports aren’t organized play, like a yard game. He was in it, and he was going to play.”
Sibling rivalry dominated competitions between Blake and Taylor as youngsters, but as they grew older, it changed into a deep friendship. Griffin said, “They were really competitive and very physical in driveway basketball games. Blake was always the kind that hates to lose. Once they became teammates, they were still competitive, but it wasn’t Blake versus Taylor. It was us versus them. Now, they are best friends. Even when Taylor was on the East Coast and Blake was on the West Coast, they still talked every day.”
Once the young men entered college, their fathers enjoyed watching them compete on a larger stage. Bradford shared which of Sam’s games proved the most memorable (and nerve-wracking.) “Probably his opening game, because I’m up there in the stands, and we are all thinking, ‘Here it is.’ My heart was just in knots and my stomach was in knots. But you know, he went out there and things just worked for him. It went a lot smoother than I had imagined things in my mind.
Griffin cherishes the memory of one of his sons’ recent games. “It was a very exciting game—Taylor was the high scorer with 20 points and Blake had 19, I think. My in-laws were there, and OU beat a pretty good team. After the game, they were walking off [the court], and Blake, who is a lot taller, put his hand around his brother and was patting him on the back of the head. My wife loved that. She said, ‘Aww.’ And that ‘Aww’ let me know that was special.”
Despite their accomplishments on the court and the field, post-season award competitions provided the Dads more opportunities for nervousness. At the Heisman Trophy awards, Kent Bradford was a pile of nerves. While waiting for the announcement, “I felt my tie coming up off my shirt, my heart was pounding so hard,” he said. “But when they called his name, I thought, ‘Awesome.’ It was great and exciting. All the past Heisman winners there were kind and warm and welcoming to Sam. We just had a great time meeting them.”
At the Naismith Award ceremony, normally competitive Tommy Griffin found himself experiencing a different sensation. “It was really weird for me. I’m a very competitive person, but it was to the point I was in awe of the people who were there and I thought, ‘It’s an honor to be here. Even if he doesn’t win, it’s still going to be an honor just to be thought of in this frame.’ When he did win, I was just happy he had the opportunity to experience this. It’s a unique fraternity.”
Sam has chosen to remain at OU for at least one more season as quarterback, with a potential NFL career after that. In the midst of his success, his father takes the time to remind Sam to remain true to himself. “I just remind Sam, ‘You’ve always done well, but you’ve always been Sam,’” said Bradford. “So keep being Sam.”
Taylor graduated this spring and is pursuing an NBA career. Brother Blake is heading in the same direction, and is expected to be the number one pick in the NBA draft. Griffin and his wife are praying for their sons to be a positive influence on others. “When Blake goes off, he’ll be around a lot of guys that don’t have the same grounding,” said Griffin. “Sometimes, people that you look up to can influence you to do differently than you’ve done in the past. That’s the thing my wife and I are both saying in our prayers. We want him to be an influence on others instead of others being an influence on him.”
Both fathers share pride in their son’s accomplishments, and have bright hopes for their futures. “Just like Kent, I’m proud of what they’ve done and how they’ve done it,” said Griffin.
“I hope Sam is happy, that he’s always able to do what he wants to do,” said Bradford. “I hope he finds a good wife one day, and has a family, and gets to experience all the joys he’s brought me.”
For all three outstanding Oklahoma athletes, they’ve won more than just games. In the eyes of their fathers, they are winning in the game of life.
Ben Davis is a freelance writer from Oklahoma City who loves writing, fried okra and people, in that order.