Virginia mourns Bradley

The Virginia football family is in mourning.

Former Cavaliers fullback Kevin Bradley, 22, was found dead as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head, Lt. David Sportsman, a Fayetteville, N.C., spokesman announced to reporters on Thursday. It is unclear at this point, investigators said, if the wound was self-inflicted.

“It’s a very sad thing,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “Everybody here is very somber about it. There’s still a significant amount of kids on the team who were quite friendly with Kevin.

“Kevin wasn’t a fancy guy — you know, it was all about football with Kevin. Good teammate, tough kid, hard worker and was well appreciated around here.”

Bradley, who made his first and only start during his playing career at Virginia in the Music City Bowl in 2005, had been reported missing by his mother on July 2. His skeletal remains were found July 26 by three teens walking in the area of the body, which was confirmed to be Bradley this week by the North Carolina State Medical Examiner’s office.

The former Cavalier suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and was not taking medication, his mother told police. She also said her son took a gun belonging to his stepfather before he went missing.

An all-state player out of Seventy First High School in Fayetteville, Bradley played in the North Carolina-South Carolina Shrine Bowl after his final prep season. Rated as high as the 23rd-best player in the state by a publication, he made an immediate impact at Virginia on special teams in 2004 and 2005 as a wedge blocker and registered five career tackles.

Bradley also returned a kickoff for seven yards against Boston College in ’05 and caught a 3-yard pass against Temple later that season. He was suspended prior to the 2006 season and never returned to the Cavaliers’ roster.