Brady Davidson builds championship mindset while making school history

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Rock Bridge's Brady Davidson has experienced the thrill of winning championships, not just in one sport but several. In fact, the senior has helped lead the Bruins to conference championships in three different sports, a feat no other Rock Bridge athlete has achieved in its CMAC era.

"It really doesn't get better than winning. Winning is kind of the best you can do, especially in the CMAC. It's such a tough conference. It feels great because of what we put in and what we do. For me, everything that we go through in practice and everything that we fight through whenever it works out in the games it feels like a puzzle's put together and seeing the final picture is awesome," Davidson said.

Over the course of his high school athletic career, Davidson never shied away from playing football, basketball and baseball each year. He was a consistent varsity starter in all three sports during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons and has earned All-Conference and/or All-District honors in each sport, too. However, suiting up to play on the gridiron has evolved into his passion.

"Once I really realized that going to that next level and going to college is really where football was going to take me, that's whenever I started really realizing that's where my main focus is. Once I realized that's where I needed to go for the next step, that's whenever I started loving it more," Davidson said. "Growing up, I've always wanted to play in college. I've always wanted to play professionally, and so, the moment when I had my first opportunity to play at the next level, it really hit me that my dreams were kind of coming true.

Davidson's football journey began at four years old. Even at that young age, the three-sport athlete's competitive spirit was already on display.

"He started playing flag football when he was four, and he played with some older kids, and they told him to try playing quarterback," Ben Davidson, Brady's dad, said. "We were able to travel and compete against competitive teams, just with our kids local here, and they got to a certain point where when they went to tournaments or went to games, they assumed they were going to win. If they didn't, that was more shocking to them."

"He loved to compete, but he also just loved playing with his friends. Then, it kind of became second nature," Kalyn Davidson, Brady's mom, said.

Once Davidson kicked off his high school career, that winning mindset was put to the test in the form of a position battle for Rock Bridge's starting quarterback spot. Embracing a mindset of perseverance and hard work, earned him the spot.

"I'll never forget walking on the field a couple years ago and telling [Brady] I'm going to start the other guy," Matt Perkins, Rock Bridge's head football coach said. "There was no real emotion involved, he was just like 'okay' and then, I proceeded to watch the determination of the guy saying I'm just going to win the job. That's what he ended up doing. He's special."

From being a competitor to a role model and leader for his teammates, Davidson utilized those attributes on the football field, basketball court and baseball diamond to help Rock Bridge win a trio of conference titles.

"I try to put others before me. I don't really want to be the guy who's trying to lead everybody. I want to be the guy who's trying to get everybody together," Davidson said.

"There's a great story from last year where we were in the jamboree, and [Brady] threw the ball to an open player in the end zone. It was dropped," Perkins said. "The first person to go and pick that kid up from that moment was Brady. He met him in the end zone after throwing the ball 30 yards down the field. He picked him up, jogged him back to the huddle. He's just an incredible teammate."

With his senior year underway and a future at Northern Illinois University looming at the end of it, the Rock Bridge quarterback is grateful and eager to embrace his final high school sports seasons before trading Rock Bridge's green and gold for the red and black of the Huskies' football program.

"Being here at [Rock Bridge] is really important to me. I've grown up always being ready to get to Rock Bridge and be a Bruin. Finishing out this last year of playing all three [sports] is really awesome, and I've just loved doing it every single second. I've loved everybody that I've played with," Davidson said. "It plays so much more importance than just playing the sport. It's life, and it's everything outside of it too."