Ohio State commitment Blaine Bradford an undisputed leader for Catholic High
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
The nation’s current second-rated safety and five-star recruit wasn’t beneath filling up water bottles and helping teammates get limber for practices and games.
While a torn posterior cruciate ligament suffered in the team’s fall scrimmage sidelined him for the majority of the 2023 season, Catholic High of Baton Rouge’s Blaine Bradford, then a sophomore, showed the kind of leadership that was evident when he started as a freshman and played as an eighth grader.
He instructed younger players on their assignments, made sure they had something to drink during film sessions, and at practice, where he remained present.
The PCL injury, which affected the ligament that connects the femur and tibia, didn’t require season-ending surgery, challenging Bradford to do what was necessary to return to action. There was rest, ice, immobilization, and physical therapy that helped to give him hope of playing in the event the Bears made a deep playoff run.
He was fortunate, because they did.
“Instead of boo hoo me, I looked at it as a chance to show the other half of me that I wasn’t able to show on the field,” Bradford said. “I did the little things. I watched extra film on certain positions, telling people what they were doing right and wrong.”
Catholic, led by the Class 5A’s Outstanding Offensive Player Daniel Beale, went 8-2 during the regular season and, following a first-round bye, demolished John Ehret (45-9) to set up a home quarterfinal with John Curtis.
The Bears survived a dramatic contest, 38-35, and hosted Archbishop Rummel in a state semifinal that enabled Bradford to return after receiving medical clearance.
Bradford, outfitted with a knee brace, was limited to about half the game, he said, but the opportunity to return and play with teammates helped to erase the previous three months of uncertainty. A 28-16 victory sent the Bears to the Division I select state championship game against Acadiana.
“I made a name for myself my freshman year as a leader at a young age,” Bradford said. “Everyone on the team respected me. Then I got hurt, and it tore me down at first. That was the best I had ever felt as an athlete and as a person. I didn’t care about the recovery; I just wanted to play that season. Luckily, we made it to the state championship, and I was able to play.”
Bradford, who earned scholarship offers from LSU and Texas A&M as a freshman, had already developed a reputation as one of the nation’s top rising safety prospects but earned the respect of everyone around him by playing in the state title game instead of watching from the sideline.
That’s when Catholic High coach Hudson Fuller discovered the kind of competitor he had in Bradford.
“He’s already one of the top-rated recruits in the country,” Fuller said. “There are risks to him playing in this one game, and he made the choice to go and help the team. That helped us to win a state championship that year.
“To me, that spoke volumes about him,” Fuller said. “Who he’s always been as a leader. He brings out the best in the people around him. He’s extremely competitive. We talk about being holistic. He’s more than just a football player. He’s one of one.”
Catholic won its second state championship in three years, riding a red-hot performance from Beale to a 55-31 victory over six-time state champion Acadiana, a milestone Bradford was part of from the opening kickoff.
“I braced it up as tight as I could,” Bradford said. “I thought I was fine. I told them it didn’t hurt when I ran. I was a full go for Acadiana. I showed up ready to play every game even though I wasn’t playing.”
Bradford enjoyed one of the more unique experiences for the past several seasons, playing alongside his other brother, Jacob.
They were each other’s fiercest competitors, facing off in the family’s backyard to launch their careers, which took them to one of the state’s premier programs and beyond.
Jacob played cornerback and was named to the LSWA’s Class 5A first team last season, while Blaine was an All-State honorable mention selection at safety for Catholic’s run to the state semifinals.
“It was an iron sharpens iron type of thing, and we helped make the other who they are today,” Blaine said of his brother. “We’ve been playing together since pee-wee football and before that in the backyard. We had our time together, and it was time for us to move on, for us to grow in different aspects of our lives.”
Jacob signed last December with the hometown LSU Tigers, and most experts who cover college recruiting expected Blaine to follow suit.
Bradford, the nation’s No. 2 safety and nation’s No. 47 overall prospect by On3/Rivals, wanted to follow a different path in his college career, and after an unofficial visit to Ohio State, the 6-1 ½, 205-pounder committed to the Buckeyes on March 31.
“It feels good to get that out of the way,” he said. “I was down to Ohio State and LSU, and my decision lifted a lot of weight off my shoulders. It allowed me to focus on this high school season, really focus on my development this high school season.”
Bradford subsequently followed his pledge with an official visit in June and several unofficial visits since then, further solidifying his stance with reigning national champion Ohio State.
“It does factor in, but we both made our decisions based on different reasons,” Blaine said of his choice for Ohio State over family considerations. “We both had different recruiting cycles. LSU came on him super late, where they had been recruiting me since my freshman year.
“I felt better about going to Ohio State, and he felt better about going to LSU, and we understand that we made the best decisions for both of us,” Blaine said. “It wasn’t any hard feelings that, ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore’. We made that decision together.”
Bradford said it’s been common to receive text messages from schools such as LSU, which also extended an official scholarship offer on Aug. 1, which he posted to his Instagram account.
“They reply to all of my Instagram stories,” he said of LSU. “It’s (recruiting process) not over until the paper’s signed.”
Bradford said he doesn’t plan to take any more official visits. He passed a class this summer, allowing him to graduate from Catholic High at midterm and enroll at Ohio State in January, where his relationships with head coach Ryan Day and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri have continued to gain strength.
“Being from Louisiana, and when people from here that support LSU and are diehard fans, tell you they think you made the right decision, which validated it a lot for me,” Bradford said. “I have relationships with the (Ohio State) players. It’s different. I feel like I’m a part of the program already. That’s what made me feel comfortable about it coming back here.”
Bradford’s climb to national caliber prospect began with humble beginnings, playing youth league football in his family’s backyard.
“I never went to high school games or watched that much football,” Bradford said prior to attending Catholic in the eighth grade. “I never saw that much potential. Then, during my freshman year, a couple of big offers came around, and I thought I could actually do this. That I had the potential to start pursuing it, and it became one of my main focuses.”
Bradford, who attended LSU’s camps and home games, said the offers from LSU and Texas A&M arrived within an hour of each other on the same day, evoking an emotional response.
“The first thing that happened was that I cried,” he said. “I didn’t understand how much that meant at the moment. No one around me was getting that type of attention. I didn’t understand the value of it at the time. I started to go on recruiting trips. You saw that those (offers) meant something when you thought they didn’t mean anything.”
One area of emphasis that Bradford never deviated from was education.
With a solid foundation at home, where both of his parents, Erin and Stacy, have a combined three master’s degrees and have served at different levels in education, Bradford is the consummate student. He’s posted a 4.0 grade point average the past two years to go with a great level of maturity and leadership.
“Going to Catholic was kind of an easy transition,” he said of his private school environment at Catholic in Baton Rouge. “They’re (Catholic) known for prestigious academics. It was a normal environment.
“The teachers are second to none,” he said. “They’re the best teachers in the state, and they love each and every student, and the administrators do the same thing. Catholic’s had all of the right resources for me when I needed them. It’s worked out best for me.”
Erin Bradford, a graduate of Xavier in New Orleans with a master’s degree in both education and art, has been a teacher and counselor at several different schools. She now serves as the Director of I CARE in Baton Rouge, which focuses on prevention education in the following areas – alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and violence – for students and families.
Stacy Bradford, a former track athlete at Southern who helped the Jaguars win two Southwestern Conference titles, is the current principal of University High School’s middle school.
The holder of a master’s in administration/supervision has spent a career in education that spans more than two decades with highlights such as multiple principal of the years honors in St. John the Baptist Parish, and his guidance to change the course of one local high school in Baton Rouge from a ‘D/F’ school to one that boasted a ‘high C’ average.
“To be a good football player, you have to be good at life,” Blaine said. “If you want to be a great player, you have to take that approach to everything you do.”
Bradford begins his senior season with a clear vision that came into focus after last December’s two-point loss to eventual state champion Karr in Algiers.
Catholic led 12-7 at halftime and then rallied from a 21-12 deficit on Cohen LeBlanc’s 9-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter and trailed by the final score.
The Bears had two final possessions that wound up with a punt and turning the ball over on downs near midfield.
Karr advanced to win the Division I state championship over Alexandria, 53-8. The Cougars had a 31-point margin of victory in the playoffs, and their closest game outside of the game with Catholic was a 21-9 win over Jesuit on Oct. 18.
“What hit me with the Karr game that hurt me more than the loss was playing with the seniors, playing with my brother for the last time,” Bradford said. “I kind of felt how they felt. I tried my best throughout the spring and summer to not have the younger guys feel that type of way about us as seniors.
“I want them to go out on a high note, and if we have to carry them to it, then we’ll carry them to it,” Bradford said. “I feel like I left a lot on the table last year. It’s time for me to show out now. I’m stoked to start the season and play with all of my teammates.”
Bradford’s return in 2024 featured 53 total tackles, one stop behind the line of scrimmage, and one blocked kick. Those numbers have served as a baseline this season, where he wants to improve in all facets and help the Bears return to the Superdome and win another state championship.
“I’d like to get at least three interceptions or more,” he said. “I want to be a playmaker more than I was last year and in previous years. I want to have at least 5 to 10 game-changing tackles or sacks within the game. I don’t want to let getting tired affect my effort on each play.”
The sight of Bradford in the back of Catholic’s two-deep safety look forces opponents to have to account for him when and try to move the ball on the ground or in the air.
Aggressiveness has been a hallmark of Bradford’s play, along with his acumen, which has him in the correct spot on the field to affect the game.
Bradford’s equally comfortable coming up in run support or turning and running downfield in coverage.
“It doesn’t take very long being around him to realize that he’s special, who he is as a person,” Fuller said. “Who he is is his strength. He’s very motivated, very focused. As a player, he’s extremely aggressive and physical. He’s a student of the game, but he’s constantly looking to get better.
“I met with him after last season and asked him what his goals were, and they were all focused on improving his skills,” Fuller said. “You saw those things play out through this offseason, and you’ll see them on his film this year. There are no words to describe how special he is because it comes down to who he is as a person.”
“I like to go get the ball,” Bradford said. “If the ball’s in the air, I’m going to go get it. I’m not afraid to play coverage on people, play man on people. I love to play football.”
Part of Bradford’s approach to becoming a next-level player is rooted in his attention to detail off the field.
Outside of his team workouts, Bradford has done additional work in the weight room under the guidance of a trainer to satisfy his appetite for weightlifting. He’s taken care of himself away from the field, setting up his own menu plans and seeking the aid of a chiropractor during recovery time.
“I’ve really bought in,” he said.
Fuller couldn’t underscore what Bradford means to this year’s team.
“He’s very vocal,” he said. “You can always feel his presence. He’ll correct people when they need to get corrected, but he also connects with his teammates. He’s going to ask people to do things that he’s doing himself. He leads by example, but he’s also a vocal leader.”
Bradford believes the respect he commands of his teammates is a result of his actions and the ability to carry them out. It’s given him credence in the locker room and on the field where Catholic opens Sept. 5 against Destrehan at Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge.
“A lot of time, people can only lead by your example,” he said. “I can say I’ll do this and do that, but if I can’t do it, then it doesn’t have any value. To go out and show the younger players what I’m saying, and doing it the right way and being successful, kind of helps them to understand when I say it. The senior year’s big for everybody. It’s the most exciting year. You’re a leader on the team.”
Featured Image Courtesy Glenn Eymard Photography