How NOLA Built Me - By Darius Bradwell
Apr 3, 2019 | Football
Football is ingrained in me.
I remember looking at baby pictures and, in almost all of them, I had a football in my hand. I played a lot of sports growing up – basketball, track and baseball – but there was something about football that just made me love it instantly.
Being from Tallahassee, I felt that Tulane was a school that was close enough to home but also just far enough away. During the time when I was deciding where to go to college, my grandma had cancer and wasn't doing well. That's why I wanted to stay close to home, being only a four-hour drive away. Actually, the day I enrolled at Tulane, January 7, 2016, was the same day that my grandma passed away.
Since that time, I have grown tremendously. Moving from a college town to a much bigger city, you really learn how to mature and how to connect with people. As an only child, I was always kind of excluded growing up, but this city really opened me up and taught me that I had to let people in if I wanted to make the most of these opportunities.
The whole city is just amazing – it's really helped make me a better person.Â
Now, heading into my senior year, I've realized how much those people have impacted my life. I'm going to miss my team more than anything. Every one of my teammates has taught me something in life.
We've seen a lot together over the past three years. The transition of the program from what it was then to what it is right now is incredible, and I'm lucky to be a part of that change.
But, we still have work to do.
I want to win ten games this season. I want to win the conference championship and I want to go to a major bowl game and put Tulane on the map. That has been my goal since I've been here - to put Tulane on the map and have someone say, "Darius was here when we made our team what it is today."
They say it goes by fast and it truly does.Â
It's kind of scary to think about going into the real world. You have your whole life planned out with elementary school, middle school, high school and college, and then what?Â
But I'm excited for that. I'm excited for my journey after college, and to see all of the skills and lessons that I've learned and how they will affect me in the future.
I have a lot of big plans and I'm ready to get started. And I have Tulane and New Orleans to thank for helping me grow into someone who can achieve them.
My name is Darius Bradwell and I am NOLA Built.Â
