Honestly I just picked the featured photo because it had two things: 1) Brandon Radcliff & 2) it was vs uk. Lets get to the main point of the story. Brandon Radcliff is a good Football player and an even better person. A lot of people will say yeah, he’s a Louisville man. Many don’t know that he almost wasn’t. He didn’t commit until the day before signing day when Louisville cut ties with Ace Wales (sp) for whatever reason. The rest is history. Each year he battled and got better and better.
He had also emerged as a locker room leader. If you ask him he will tell you that he learned a lot about being a leader from Teddy B. I have interviewed him several times and I have run into him in public and he would stop me to talk and I also ran into him in the hotel before the Kickoff Classic. So many stories and so much respect. Just a great kid. That is why when I seen the following picture on Instagram today, I knew who’s idea it was without even asking. B-Rad is the kind of kid that you really want to see succeed and todays show of respect secured that in my mind today.
As a Louisvillian we have heard about Muhammad Ali our whole lives. Whether its passing by his street, his center or just repeating his sayings, ALI is in our DNA. I did not write a big retrospective on the champ like others did but it doesn’t mean he didn’t have a huge effect on my life. I got beat up sometimes trying to be the Louisville lip. lol. But he taught me a ton. He taught me not to see color. (Along with my parents) He taught me how to be confident. He taught me how to talk the talk and walk the walk….eventually. He earned most everyone’s respect. What does this have to do with B-Rad? I know some of you are saying this. Because Ali had the same effect on a people of many races and many ages. A middle-aged (Yuck) guy that grew up in the Ville and a young kid from Florida. He inspired many generations, races, religions & people in general. You will be missed champ.
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
