{"id":9699,"date":"2022-07-29T14:54:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T18:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=9699"},"modified":"2023-02-15T10:59:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T15:59:47","slug":"passion-and-perseverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2022\/07\/29\/passion-and-perseverance\/","title":{"rendered":"Passion and Perseverance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eagles Linebacker Todd Bradley-Glenn Shows Grit On and Off the Field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Todd Bradley-Glenn knows what it\u2019s like to start from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2022 football season is his seventh season as a linebacker with the Eagles and will be only the fourth in which he\u2019s played. Hampered by injuries that would have permanently sidelined many players, Bradley-Glenn is determined to have the season he\u2019s been working toward for years and to keep moving forward through life\u2019s unexpected obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m always trying to better myself and I know that no matter how hard life gets, with what I\u2019ve been through, I\u2019ve seen so much that there\u2019s nothing I can\u2019t get through,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like being in all these situations was just a test \u2014 even with the cancer, that was my first big test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a sophomore at Valdosta High School, Bradley-Glenn made a routine hit during a game, which left a knot on his shoulder that wouldn\u2019t go away. By the end of his junior year, the knot had grown larger and hardened, and they scheduled surgery to remove what they thought was scar tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a biopsy of the tumor, however, the pathology report said it was a cancerous tumor. It was Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, a very rare kind of cancer with only one case in a million per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a split second I saw my whole life, and then I just started freaking out to be honest,\u201d said Bradley-Glenn. \u201cI just started crying. You know, you never expect something like that to happen to you. You always hear stories about stuff like that happening and people get cancer, but you never really expect it to happen to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After three surgeries, Bradley-Glenn was homebound for more than six months. He couldn\u2019t play football, couldn\u2019t exercise, could barely go outside. In the midst of a depression about his prospects, his season and his life, his grandfather wrote him a letter that has served as a guiding light for him ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe strong,\u201d he wrote. \u201cGo ahead and enjoy being a young man who will be successful in life with other hurdles you will also encounter other than this one. This one is just a small one. Jump over it with faith and keep running until your next one. I believe in your ability and so should you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This advice would be crucial for Bradley-Glenn during a tumultuous college football career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Eagles roster now for seven years \u2014 extended by medical exemptions and special NCAA rules during the pandemic \u2014 Bradley-Glenn has faced tragic season-ending injuries. In the fifth game of his redshirt freshman year in 2016, he tore his ACL and was sidelined for the rest of the season. In his third year, as the Eagles made their way to a triumphant 10-3 season and bowl game win, he tore his meniscus and ACL in the same leg. In the 2021 season, when he would\u2019ve been the starter, he tore his bicep in practice, ending his season again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time, however, he worked his way back into the lineup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMan, he\u2019s just not going to quit. I mean he\u2019s just not going to quit,\u201d said Assistant Coach Kevin Whitley. \u201cHe\u2019s been through a lot from a personal standpoint, physically and mentally, and he\u2019s just not going to let it stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even while he was hurt, Bradley-Glenn would mentor young linebackers and work with them after practice. As a student, he\u2019s made the honor roll every year at Georgia Southern. In his free time, he runs a small construction business, installing TVs and building simple projects, and is also part of a book club with his teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His favorite book? \u201cGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance\u201d by Angela Duckworth. A fitting testament to his own experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember my papa saying \u2018This is a small hurdle.\u2019 I thought, \u2018Shoot, this is a big hurdle,\u2019\u201d said Bradley-Glenn. \u201cBut I just kept living after that, and I kind of see what he was talking about. It was a small hurdle. With everything that happened, it just teaches you how to handle certain situations, how to just take everything for what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just preparing you for life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u00a0Doy Cave<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eagles Linebacker Todd Bradley-Glenn Shows Grit On and Off the Field Todd Bradley-Glenn knows what it\u2019s like to start from scratch. The 2022 football season is his seventh season as a linebacker with the Eagles and will be only the fourth in which he\u2019s played. Hampered by injuries that would have permanently sidelined many players, Bradley-Glenn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-9699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-fall-2022"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}