Another former Bradwell Institute football player has joined the ranks of NFL players. Vince Vance recently signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears.
The guard, who played one season at Georgia Military College before transferring to play at the University of Georgia, was not selected in the 2010 NFL Draft, as anticipated. According to sports.espn.go.com/Chicago, he was given an offer to sign with the Bears after he attended the team’s rookie minicamp April 30-May 2 on a tryout basis.
During an interview with The Daily Advance reporter Will Harris, Vance said it wasn’t until he started playing at Bradwell that he started to hone his football skills. Until then, Vance said, he was more focused on basketball."The South, from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, football is their lifestyle," Vance told The Daily Advance. "It’s like one of those things you see in movies when you have a football game and the town shuts down for it. It was like that."
At Bradwell, the athlete ran track and played primarily on the defense as a lineman and defensive end. At Georgia Military College, he transitioned to the offensive line.
"I used to think that being an offensive lineman meant I might have to be passive at times," Vance said to Harris. "It’s not true. I can be just as aggressive as a defensive player. I just have to maintain my body control."
After one season at the military college, Vance accepted an offer from Georgia and played the rest of his career as a Bulldog.
The Bears have Vance listed at 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing 315 pounds.
He is listed as fourth in the depth chart for the Bears as a left guard.