Tony Gutierrez / AP

Sam Bradford has his shoulder wrapped up by staff members during Saturday's game. Bradford could be making money in the NFL right now had he not opted to return to college.

Beyond that, there’s a good chance that Bradford would not have been hit in the pros the way he was hit by BYU’s Coleby Clawson.

Clawson laid a clean lick — by college rules — on Bradford, hitting him just after he released a pass and driving him into the turf, landing on the quarterback with all of his considerable weight. In the pros, though, linemen aren’t allowed to drive quarterbacks into the ground like that, not after they’ve let the ball go. That’s because quarterbacks are more valuable in the pros than they are in college, where players don’t get paid millions of dollars to put their bodies on the line.

It’s not like Bradford was going to learn some valuable life skill by staying another year in college. He already had all the skills he needed to earn enough money to keep himself and his family in expensive cars and commodious housing for life. He went to school to become a football player, not an accountant or social worker or gym teacher.

Once you’ve reached a point where you can get a job at the highest level of a lucrative profession, you have no more need of college. Bradford was at that level. It was time to move on. Instead, he stayed behind to chase dreams that are going to look rather meaningless years from now.

The dreams were long shots at best. Now they’re nonexistent. His wallet will be lighter. And a guy like Sanchez, who understood that when you’re ready for the next level, you go there, is already way ahead of Bradford in his NFL career — the one job that really matters.

Matt Leinart also stayed another year in school for the same reasons Bradford did. He didn’t get hurt, but he didn’t win the Heisman and he lost the BCS title game. And the extra year of work didn’t do him a lick of good in the pros. He not only lost a year of big-time money, he’s also still not a starter four years into his NFL career.

Four years from now, Bradford could be in the same boat.

At least he’s got those frat parties.

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