Samford cornerbacks coach Sam Shade knows James Bradberry’s journey to the NFL as well as just about anyone.
Shade coached the Panthers’ second-round pick for four years. Their roots aren’t far apart – Shade grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and Bradberry grew up in Pleasant Grove, 20 minutes away.
But while Shade played his college football for Alabama and starred as a hard-hitting safety, Bradberry didn’t have the same interest from top-flight college programs.
"The Birmingham area where he’s from is just not as heavily recruited," Shade said in a phone interview. "It just doesn’t get as much traffic as some big areas.