TLSN: Bill, let's start with a baseball question. As a shortstop, you got drafted in the seventh round by the Detroit Tigers in 1965...and you were already the most hyped signee of Darrell Royal's first nine classes. How hard was it to turn down the baseball money?

BILL: Being drafted out of high school by the Tigers and not taking that and running, was very difficult to turn down. My idol, my Dad, was a hard-drinking railroad man and baseball player and coach for 27-plus years. (Bill notes that there is a Bradley Field in Palestine, named for his father.) To his credit, he did not sway my decision at all. You can't even imagine how hard that decision was, not to take $25,000 in 1965. At that time I had no clue what my future was to be.

TLSN: Did Palestine legend James Saxton's success at Texas (All-America RB in '61 when Bradley was a freshman at Palestine High) have any bearing on you choosing Texas from all the offers?

BILL: It was really easy to take a full ride to the University of Texas. I had offers from all over the country but my idol as a youngster was Saxton. James made his mark at PHS and we really looked up to him when he was at PHS. I was a Longhorn most all my life.

TLSN: Part of the legend of your many exploits in leading Palestine to the '64 state championship, and a building block in you being labeled as Super Bill, was the story about your ability to even throw a left-handed TD pass when necessary. What's the story on that?

BILL: We as a team are all still very close to this day. Well, I injured my (right) throwing hand in a district game against Kilgore High. We rolled out to the left and I threw a left-hand pass that looked like a twisting propeller of a helicopter. Hence, I was able to throw with either hand. But I must confess to being ambidextrous. (Bradley mentions that he throws righty, kicks, and punts left-footed, writes left-handed, and shoots "both-handed)

Doak Walker (SMU's 1948 Heisman Trophy winner) basically named me "Super Bill" at the Big 33 High School All-Star game (1965), with (immortal Texas and NFL QB ) Bobby Layne as the head coach of the Texas All-Stars. After we came back to win the game (played in Hershey, PA) against the Pennsylvania All-Stars, Doak said in the dressing room, "I bet if you take off those shoulder pads, you'll find a big, red "S" under there!"

TLSN: You and your Wildcats have continued to get together regularly. This fall will mark 57 years since the title win over San Marcos. Is anything planned, and how many guys still participate?

BILL: Our group of classmates and teammates in all four major sports and all school activities were absolutely amazing. We usually have a get-together every year or so and normally we average 10 to 20 guys. Oh, we love to remember the glory days. The stories get better and better. But 99.9 percent of them are very true. We love and respect each other more and more as the years go by.

TLSN: Back to baseball, was there any consideration to also play baseball at UT?

BILL: At UT we had Freshman Season. No freshmen were allowed to play on the varsity. I got lucky and started in three sports: baseball, track...in the field events...and football. (Bradley says "a handshake and a broken promise" limited him to playing only football at the varsity level.)

TLSN: How hard was it dealing with the pressure at Texas as a soph in '66? Coach Royal had never started a sophomore at quarterback.

BILL: The pressure was no problem but injuries and being full of myself was.

TLSN: Chris Gilbert was setting rushing records and you were setting passing records your first two varsity seasons but the results -- 7-4 and 6-4 -- weren't quite up to the recent UT standards. The eight losses were by a total of just 39 points. As the QB, you faced a lot of criticism from fans and media. How hard was it to deal with that during those two seasons?

BILL: It wasn't hard for me to deal with. The quarterback gets all the credit and all the blame.

1. TLSN: When Royal and Coach Emory Bellard decided to try the wishbone for your senior season, what do you recall about early workouts and your expectations? https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/emory-bellardwishbone

BILL: Without going into detail on the Wishbone, let's just say I wasn't very good at running it and was very mediocre.

TLSN: When Coach Royal decided to switch to James Street at QB after the 0-1-1 start of your senior year, you famously elected to focus on leadership as a captain. You began as a backup receiver and caught a TD pass and then found a new life as an excellent defensive halfback (or a corner in today's terms, for our readers) on a team that would finish with nine straight wins. To your teammates, how would you characterize your personality on and off the field during that time?

BILL: My teammates voted me a captain of the team. And many guys got moved around. When Coach Royal made the switch to James, who was my best friend until the day he passed on (in 2013), it was a blessing for me and I'm very proud to say that my friends, the teams, sure changed my life. The credit goes to my family, teammates, and most of all, my coaches.

TLSN: Your final home game had a pretty good scenario. The previous year, A&M had intercepted four of your passes and won 10-7, the first time a Royal team had lost to the Aggies. A year later, Texas is on a roll, you're a DB....and you end up setting UT and SWC records by picking off four passes from Edd Hargett en route to a 35-0 lead. It was straight out of a Hollywood script. What do you remember most about how sweet that was? And could only the Aggies have kept throwing to your side that much, considering the results?

BILL: Our final home game could not be more fitting for our team and me. To get four picks off of A&M put an exclamation point on my career. An Aggie friend who was close to the team told me that before the game, Coach Gene Stallings had told the quarterback that "Bradley is so new to his position that we should pick on him and throw at him all day." After the fourth interception, Edd Hargett went over to Coach Stallings and asked him, "If we get the ball again, should we keep picking on that Bradley guy?"

The best thing I remember is how proud my teammates were for me. James came over to me, hugged my neck, and said, "That may never be done again at this university."

(Editor's note: That feat has not been matched.)

TLSN: After you and the Horns demolished Tennessee, 36-13, in the Cotton Bowl, Texas finished the season ranked number three in the country. Did you and your senior teammates have a sense that you had laid down the start of the most extraordinary era of Longhorn football?

BILL: You know, years later, I asked James if he thought anyone in the nation could've beaten the 1969 national champ Longhorns. He paused and said, "If anyone could have, it would have been the 1968 team that went 9-1-1 and finished third in the nation."

TLSN: You played in three 1969 post-season all-star games and got drafted in the third round by the Eagles. It was obvious that you were a heckuva punter but did the Eagles take you as "an athlete," in the way that some colleges today recruit multi-talented guys? You ended up punting, playing safety, returning kicks, and being the holder. What expectations did they spell out for you early on?

BILL: The Eagles actually drafted me as a "Punter/Player." That's what the scout, Herman Ball, had on their scouting reports.

TLSN: Your penchant for the Hollywood scripts continued when, on your first defensive NFL scrimmage play, midway through your rookie season, you picked off Roger Staubach and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown. How cool was that?

BILL: That INT against the Cowboys for a score was the highlight of my career...except that we did not win the game.

TLSN: In your third and fourth seasons with the Eagles, you became the first NFL player to lead the league in interceptions in back-to-back years. You made All-Pro three straight times.

But the team didn't have many wins. It had to be tough to want to feel good about your own play but to suffer along with everybody else in the ultimate team sport. How conflicted were you feeling about it all?

BILL: I was very conflicted about what I achieved because it was great personally but sad collectively, team-wise.

TLSN: Philadelphia fans are notorious for being rough on their teams and players and for infamously booing even Santa Claus. But I'll bet you experienced some great times. In a nutshell, how would you describe the Eagles' fans?

BILL: Eagle fans are the best in the NFL. Their "football blue-collar" attitude wins Super Bowls. They liked me because I was a blue-collar player.

TLSN: What are your recollections of two-a-days at Texas and training camps at Albright College in Reading, PA? Compare and contrast, as the old high school quizzes used to demand.

BILL: Texas's two-a-days were really a grind, like a cattle drive. (With the Eagles) There was much more learning on the run and you have to learn fast and recall to the field...no mental errors allowed.

TLSN: You played with a variety of colorful and talented guys in "the City of Brotherly Love," such as Tim Rossovich and Harold Carmichael, and you were even Tom Dempsey's holder a few years after his record-setting 64-yard field goal for the Saints. Some quick descriptions of those old teammates?

BiLL: Rosso was not as crazy as he acted. A lot of it was "Hollywood" fun. After all, Timmy was in 50 movies as a bodyguard, driver, and stuntman. He actually had a series on TV, called "When The Whistle Blows."

Harold was probably the smartest, tallest, most athletic person I've ever met. A great friend forever. (Editor's note: Bradley journeyed to Canton, Ohio in August to celebrate Carmichael's induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, and to visit with Harold, Coach Dick Vermeil, and others)

Tom Dempsey (who died in New Orleans's rest home during the first month of Covid-19 in 2020) was a great friend and sincerely a great motivational speaker. God bless his soul. I could talk all year about my friends.

TLSN: Another legendary Longhorn, Jerry Sisemore, joined the Eagles in your fifth year. What was your relationship with him, then and now?

BILL: Jerry was my Texas brother. We're joined at the hip. He's still my great friend.

I love number 76.

TLSN: You enjoyed a coaching career that spanned more than three decades in the NFL, as a volunteer assistant at UT, at Baylor, with various short-lived pro leagues, and especially in the Canadian Football League. What was your favorite stop and why?

BILL: I met my wife, Susan, when I was in the Canadian Football League, with the Sacramento Gold Miners. That's by far my favorite stop. She is wonderful and beautiful, too.

TLSN: Having been a good player doesn't always translate into becoming a successful coach, but you did it so well for so long. Were there one or two men who particularly ended up serving as role models?

BILL: Irv Cross was a player and coach and one of the brightest people I've ever met. A genius of a person. Coach Royal was very honest and direct. Also, Wade Phillips, a "son of a Bum!"

TLSN: What do enjoy doing most these days?

BILL: Hanging with my wife, Susan, my daughter, Carissa, her husband, Jon, and our grandson, Henry William Carter, alias "Hank Willie."

TLSN: Here's one to wrap up with. You've lived a pretty well-chronicled life. What's one thing that most people still don't know about Bill Bradley?

BILL: I love to play the "Blues Harp," the harmonica.