Bradford Calls Off Press Conference to Address Injury, Future

It's the great mystery in Norman, Okla., right now.

Is quarterback Sam Bradford's career over at Oklahoma? Will the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner opt for surgery to repair the sprained AC joint in his right shoulder? Could he play again this season or next?

Those are all burning questions that Sam Bradford was supposed to address following Wednesday's Oklahoma Sooners practice, but he called off a scheduled press conference. Oklahoma associate athletic director for media relations Kenny Mossman told FanHouse that Bradford wants to gather more information. There is no rescheduled date set and that Bob Stoops will not be taking any questions on Bradford after practice.

Speculation is rampant Bradford, a junior, will elect to have season-ending surgery. His decision to call off the press conference seems to support that theory.

What this all means for his OU career is very much up in the air. Coming into the season, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Bradford would leave early for the NFL following this season after turning down a chance to be an early first-round selection in last spring's NFL draft.

The injury and the need to prove to NFL brass he's fully healed after surgery may force Bradford to come back to school for another season to re-elevate his stock.

Bradford originally injured the shoulder during the season-opening loss to BYU. He missed the next three Sooner games while rehabbing the injury and consulting with a specialist in Alabama. He returned to the playing field two weeks ago against Baylor, but last week was knocked out of the game when the shoulder was re-injured during the second offensive series of the Red River Rivalry against Texas.

Stoops said earlier this week that there was no further damage done to Bradford's shoulder but expected to make an announcement about his future at some point this week. Bradford has been ruled out of playing in Saturday's game at Kansas since Monday.

It seems to make sense Bradford will opt to have the surgery to repair the shoulder because the 3-3 Sooners are definitely out of the BCS national championship picture and are even in an uphill battle to win their fourth straight Big 12 title. One of the reasons Bradford returned to school this year after getting beat by Florida in last season's national championship game was to help OU take home the national title.