Finding New Purpose with Brad Clifford

Years ago Brad and I use to walk the halls of Olympus High School and although we are years apart in school I am very close to the Clifford Family.  You remember a few episodes ago when Kristin mentioned the women she rode the Huntsman 140 in honor of…that was Brad’s mom - Mary.  Brad has always been an athlete. A formidable athlete. He played tight end at the University of Utah (and did so at the same time Jake played) so that is how they are connected.  

Brad is the first non-cyclist to join the podcast, both Jake and I have been watching Brad’s life (from the wings of social media) and felt his message fit with the culture of the team. Let me tell a bit of his story to get us started…

Clifford played for the Utes from 2004-2010 with an LDS church mission in the middle. During that time Utah sky-rocketed into the world of college football. In Clifford’s freshmen year, the Utes “busted” the “unbustable” Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the first time under head coach Urban Meyer.

What most fans probably don’t know is Clifford was going through some massive life changes of his own in the middle of all the euphoria surrounding Utah’s football successes. The walk-on turned scholarship athlete from Olympus High School was set several times to have a massive season for the Utes, only to have it torn away in gut-wrenching fashion. One instant, in 2008, could have potentially cost Clifford his life.

Now, at 36 years old, Clifford is using those experiences to try and help other men, athletes or not to identify possible mental health crises before they get out of hand like they did for him.

“I would love if my story would impact someone to take action to show themselves a level of love that they deserve that won’t come from anything external that they think exists,” Clifford said. “The game of football is the greatest teacher of life. That game has evolved and the generations of men going through it from earlier generations to now is evolving as well. I hope my story along with hundreds of others like mine helps someone who is dragging their feet like I was in 2008 to get ahead of it.”