Recent Oakville High School graduate Maxwell Bradley has received the Elite 11 Scholar Athlete honor for his work as the quarterback of the Oakville Tigers. The award was presented by the Tom Lombardo Chapter of the National Football Foundation, which is based in St. Louis and was founded in 1992.

Eleven students from the entire St. Louis area were selected as award recipients due, in part, to their participation on their high school football teams. According to the Mehlville School District, Bradley was chosen for his “academic achievement, football accomplishments and leadership on and off the field.”

“I knew it was a pretty competitive thing,” Bradley said. “Hearing that I was able to do enough to win the award was pretty cool. My mom got the phone call, and she was pretty excited, too.”

Bradley first began playing football seven years ago, when he was in sixth grade. He was a soccer player before that, but when his older brother began playing football, it inspired Bradley to switch to the sport. His first experience on the field was with the Oakville Junior Tigers team.

Since he was new to football as a sixth grader, he was originally designated center; this changed when Bradley’s coach took notice of his throwing abilities at practice.

“The coach saw me throw it further than anybody else, so he asked me if I wanted to play quarterback, and that’s how it started,” Bradley said.

About the sport, he added, “(I like) the challenge that comes with it, especially at my position. You can never be perfect, so there’s always a goal to chase, like having a good stat line or winning games. Games were dependent on me, whether we could do well or not. I always felt like there was a good challenge there.”

Bradley says he loved the camaraderie of his football team, and that a highlight of his time as an Oakville Tiger was every Friday night football game. He added that some of his favorite games were those when the Tigers came away with a win against Mehlville or Lindbergh high schools.

“It was always a special time, going out and playing with my teammates — those Friday night lights,” Bradley said. “Specifically for me, every time I threw a touchdown pass, there was no greater feeling than that.”

High school coaches in the St. Louis area were able to nominate one player from their team, and Oakville head coach Mike Genge nominated Bradley. Bradley then created a resume and submitted it to the board.

“It felt pretty special. I knew throughout the years he had trusted me and had belief in me, but it felt good knowing that he appreciated everything I did for the team and always thought highly of me,” Bradley said. “It felt good knowing that, through my three years of varsity football, he noticed everything I did and cared.”

Bradley found out in March that he was part of the Elite 11. He later attended a banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in celebration of his accomplishment.