It has been a little more than four years since senior offensive lineman Brice Bray stepped onto the campus of Harding University as a wide-eyed freshman. Since then, Bray has started every game of the last four seasons and set the bar for offensive linemen at Harding. This Saturday, Bray will make his final home start when the Bisons take on Arkansas Tech at First Security Stadium on Senior Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great playing for Harding,\u201d Bray said. \u201cI have been so blessed by this program. Playing for Harding has been way more than the yearly success. I have been a part of a brotherhood that genuinely cares for one another and loves each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bray has started 48 games at Harding, more than any other Bison in history. Over the course of his career, the Bisons have won a Great American Conference (GAC) championship and made the two deepest playoff runs in school history.<\/p>\n
Bray said his favorite part of being a Bison has been the relationships he has built.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly amazing how we have guys from all walks of life and guys who are very different from one another, but all share a common goal and become life-long friends,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
Bray said that he has always looked up to his dad, who is his No. 1 fan and supporter. He said Head Coach Paul Simmons and Offensive Line Coach Kevin Chism have also been father figures to him during his time at Harding.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething I always like to remember is that you won\u2019t always remember the score of the big games, but you will always cherish the little moments with your teammates,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
Senior linebacker Sam Blankenship said throughout his time on the football team, no one has motivated him more to be the best he can be, on and off the field, than Bray.<\/p>\n
\u201cBryce is not only the hardest worker on our team, he\u2019s the hardest worker I\u2019ve ever met in my life,\u201d Blankenship said. \u201cHe refuses to be outworked, never has bad practices, watches more film than anyone and dominates the trenches on Saturdays \u2026 \u00a0he\u2019s just special.\u201d<\/p>\n
His success on the field led him to be the first offensive lineman to ever be named GAC Player of the Week. He has earned three All-GAC nominations and has been named to the Division II Conference Commissioner\u2019s Association (D2CCA) All-Super Region 3 second team twice.<\/p>\n
Blankenship believes that Bray will eventually be in the Harding\u2019s Hall of Fame and excel at whatever he does post-graduation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBryce has not only started every game, he has dominated opposing defenses his whole career,\u201d Blankenship said. \u201cDefenses hate playing against him because they know what\u2019s coming. He\u2019s a great player on the field, but an even better man and friend. I can always count on him to have my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bray has been an integral part of the Bison offense and a key part of its year-to-year transition. Bray has handed the ball to three different starting quarterbacks over three years. After this weekend, if the Bisons do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament, Bray will hand the ball over to his replacement when he walks off the field for the final time.<\/p>\n
Senior defensive back Frank Herbert said Bray is the type of player every team wants.<\/p>\n
\u201cBryce is a competitor,\u201d Herbert said. \u201cWhenever it\u2019s time to go to battle, I know I can always count on him. He has been a solid center for us since freshman year. He\u2019s a leader on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It has been a little more than four years since senior offensive lineman Brice Bray stepped onto the campus of Harding University as a wide-eyed freshman. Since then, Bray has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15122,"featured_media":11996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[581,580],"class_list":["post-11995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-arkansas-tech","tag-brice-bray"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}