The Whisperer Remembers ... Stephen Braggs.

I first noticed this guy on a Thanksgiving game when he was in college at Texas. A runner caught the ball out of the backfield and this man came up from the secondary and stopped him in his tracks … even though the runner outweighed him by 50 pounds. I waited and waited for him to signal for a replacement, thinking surely his bell was ringing too loud to carry on. But to my surprise it was the other player, the one who outweighed him by 50, who left the game.

When he entered the league, he brought that same hard-nosed, no-nonsense ability to the next level and carried it with him throughout the course of his career … and he never hesitated to use it. If a runner was foolish enough to try him, their fate was brutally sealed. The same went for receivers. If they dared venture into his territory, their head was on a swivel and after meeting him, their head was spinning. And woe to the quarterback who dared to scramble …

He was a man’s man, a safeties safety and one helluva player so today, Whisperer Nation, rise to your feet and give a rousing round of applause for the one and only … former Cleveland Browns safety … Mr. Stephen Braggs.