Hall of Fame
Football, Basketball, Track & Field (1919-23)
A slick, shifty runner who earned the nickname “Rabbit” for his elusive quickness, James Bradshaw became Nevada’s first football star. A native of Kansas, he started his college career at Illinois but played a limited role as a freshman. In 1919, he followed his college assistant coach, Raymond “Corky” Courtright to Nevada. His impact on the Nevada football was immediate as he tallied 2,187 yards for the Sagebrushers. He was the quarterback in Courtright’s single-wing offense and his speed allowed him to excel as a runner and developing passer. Bradshaw led the country in rushing in 1920 with 1,586 yards. Nevada turned in a 7-3-1 record in 1920 which included a 14-0 win at Hawaii in the first game played on the islands by a mainland college team. In his senior year in 1921, he again paced the nation in rushing with 1,534 yards and was named a fourth-team All-American by Walter Camp. He was also named All-Western by McLean’s and was selected for the inaugural East-West Shrine Game.
After graduating from Nevada in 1922, he went on to play semi-professional football for the Olympic Clin. He also played for the 1926 San Francisco Tigers team that hosted Red Grange’s Chicago Bears in the first pro football game ever played on the West Coast. Later that year, he joined the American Football League’s Wilson Wildcats for 22 games and then took over as player-coach before joining Grange on the New York Yankees football team to finish the year. He pursued coaching full-time in 1927 when he joined Glenn “Pop” Warner’s staff at Stanford. He coached under the Stanford legend for nine years before becoming head coach at Fresno State in 1936. Bradshaw guided the Bulldogs to a 59-18-5 record in eight seasons. He retired from coaching in 1947 and became the director of physical education for the Fresno School District. A member of Nevada’s Team of the Century, Bradshaw was also named to the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame. He passed away in 1987.
