Bradley, National Championship Teams to be Inducted into Clemson Ring of Honor

July 15, 2005

Bob Bradley, who served Clemson for 45 years in the sports information office as director and emeritus director, will be inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor at Clemson Memorial Stadium this fall. The announcement was made Friday by Tim Bourret, Chairman of the Clemson Ring of Honor Committee.

The Ring of Honor Committee also approved the induction of Clemson’s four national championship teams. Those teams are the 1981 Clemson football team, the 1984 men’s soccer team, the 1987 men’s soccer team and the 2003 men’s golf team. The 1981 National Championship football team induction will take place in the fall of 2006 to coincide with the 25-year anniversary of that championship. The schedule of induction for the other sports at their respective facility, will be announced at a later date. Each team will be inducted as a team and each player, the Head Coach, assistant coach, manager and trainer who worked with the team on a regular basis will be considered part of the team that is inducted.

Bradley will be inducted into the Ring of Honor on the North upper deck façade at Clemson Memorial Stadium on Saturday, September 17 during ceremonies prior to the Clemson vs. Miami (FL) football game. The Ring of Honor, which began in 1994 with the induction of Frank Howard, Banks McFadden and Steve Fuller, is the highest award bestowed by the Clemson Athletic Department.

Bradley, who served Clemson from 1955 until his death on October 30, 2000, was one of the most honored administrators in ACC history. He won the Arch Ward Award as the College Sports Information Directors of America Man of the Year in 1976, the same year he also served as the organization’s national president. He was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 1975, the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985, the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000, and the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2001. The press box at Memorial Stadium was named in his honor in 1988.

On October 28, 2000, two days before he died, he was presented with “The Order of the Palmetto”, the highest honor accorded a civilian of the state of South Carolina. He was also presented the first Skeeter Francis Award by the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1990 for his contributions to the league. In many ways Bradley represented the spirit of Clemson. That was never more obvious than in his final days when, fighting the bone cancer that would claim his life, he worked his 502nd consecutive Clemson football game against Maryland at Memorial Stadium. The game was played just 16 days prior to his death.

When he worked his 500th consecutive Clemson game at Duke on September 30, 2000, Head Coach Tommy Bowden presented him with the game ball in the locker room during his post-game talk to the team. It is the only time Bowden has presented a game ball since he has been the head coach at Clemson. Bradley was known for his dedication to his job. In addition to his famous football streak, he worked 313 consecutive ACC Tournament games between 1955 and 2000. He scored over 2000 Clemson baseball games in his 45 years covering Clemson baseball.

During his career, Clemson won countless publication awards and citations for service to the media. In fact, it was Bradley who devised the publication contests award system that the organization still uses today. He also devised the baseball scorebook that is used throughout the country for college baseball. Many of his former students have gone on to work in the profession.

Bradley, a native of Randleman, NC began his association with Clemson in 1941 when he entered Clemson College as a freshman. After serving a four-year stint in the Air Force, he returned to Clemson and served as editor of The Tiger, the student newspaper in 1948. Upon graduation in 1951, he began a career in sports writing with the Greenville News. He came back to Clemson in 1953 as secretary of the Alumni Association.

In October of 1955 he was hired by Frank Howard as Clemson Sports Information Director and he held that position for 34 years until he assumed an emeritus role in 1989. Bradley and Howard were quite a team, bringing national acclaim to Clemson football for many years through the accomplishments of Howard’s teams on the field, and through Bradley’s publicizing of those accomplishments and Howard’s entertaining personality.

Bradley and Howard collaborated on a book of short stories on Howard’s career after Bradley retired in 1989. He also authored a book on Clemson history entitled Death Valley Days, The Glory of Clemson Football. He later co-authored the book with Associate Sports Information Director Sam Blackman and Clemson Head Tennis Coach Chuck Kriese just last year entitled “Clemson, Where the Tigers Play”.