John Walters

All he did in his freshman debut was complete 21 of 23 passes for 363 yards in a little more than one half of play. Sam Bradford never had a learning curve, or if he did, we never witnessed it.

Bradford, a red-shirt sophomore from Oklahoma City, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday evening. Whether or not you agree with that selection (less than one-third of the voters placed him No. 1 on their ballots), there is absolutely no disputing his accomplishments in just two seasons in Norman.

Let us dispense with the numbers first: In 2007 Bradford set NCAA freshman records for both passing efficiency (176.52) and touchdown passes (36). In that debut, a 79-10 spanking of North Texas, Bradford broke Josh Heupel’s school record for passing yardage in a half with 350 in his first 30 minutes of college ball. In his very next game, Bradford established a school record for consecutive completions, with 22. That broke Jason White’s record.

Heupel was the Heisman runner-up in 2000. White won the Heisman in 2003. Both former Sooners led their team to a berth in a national championship game played in Miami. As will Bradford.

In 2008 Bradford surprised us less but impressd us more. He improved upon his 2007 touchdown-to-interception ratio, from 36:8 (or 9 to 2, simplified) to 48:6 (or 8 to 1). He led the nation in passing efficiency (186.2) while throwing for nearly 50% more yardage this season than he did last. And, of course, he guided an offense that became the first ever to score 60 points in five consecutive games while setting an NCAA record for points in a season (albeit in 13 games) with 702.

What is remarkable is that in this era of Rivals.com and Tom Lemming and the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that Bradford was so unknown when he took his first snap for the Sooners. In fact, had heralded five-star recruit Rhett Bomar never been dismissed from Oklahoma for that summer job fiasco, Bradford likely would have been a back-up last season and perhaps even this one (Bomar played this season and last at Sam Houston State). Bradford’s tale remained bereft of detail up until the moment his name was called at the Nokia Theater on Saturday evening.

It remains so.

Consider, for a moment, Bradford’s two Heisman rivals. Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy last season, was a cult figure before he ever stepped on campus in Gainesville. During Tebow’s senior year of high school, his future coach, Urban Meyer, reportedly sent Tebow a text-message that fell into the ravenous mouths of the inter-bloggers. It read: “TT: If we were scoring 50 points a game, we wouldn’t need you. Obviously we need an athlete that’s the right fit. National championship, Heisman, it’s all waiting for you. Urban Meyer.”

That message was legendary in both its prescience (Tebow already has a national title and a Heisman) and in the fact that it may be the only time anyone ever used an adverb in a text. But it did helped spawn Tebow’s legend, one that his play has fulfilled. Tebow, after all, received more first-place votes (309 to 300) than did Bradford on Saturday evening.

Then there’s Colt McCoy, who in his first two seasons in Austin absorbed more abuse than Steve Buscemi’s Donny in “The Big Lebowski”. McCoy also had the onerous task of succeeding Vince Young, the most dynamic quarterback talent the Big 12 has produced perhaps ever (that Young is not one of the conference’s three Heisman-winning QBs this decade will confuse historians in the future).

McCoy always had the gunslinger’s name, but this season he had the swagger as well. Colt, too, became a cult figure with his unforgettable steamrolling of a Rice defensive back and his unsurpassable, record-setting 77.6% completion rate. Oh, and his telegenic girlfriend garnered (who was raised not far from where the Longhorns will play in the Fiesta Bowl) more prime-time love from ABC than Pushing Daisies ever did.

Against those two story lines, Bradford was somewhat of an enigma. As efficient with his mouth as with his arms, the Sooner QB was not given to post-loss guarantees. The most colorful thing anyone knew about him outside the huddle was that he is 1/16^th Cherokee, as if half of us even know who our own great-grandparents are (I’m fairly certain that I, for instance, am 1/32^nd Labrador).

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