By Scott DeCamp
LocalSportsJournal.com
As Shane Fairfield stated, it’s every kid’s dream to not only play in a Super Bowl but to win one.
Not only was the Muskegon High School football coach able to watch one of his former players realize the dream, he was able to do it in person.
Fairfield and Brooke Bartholomew, director of football operations for the Big Reds, were in Levi’s Stadium Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif., as 2019 Muskegon High alumnus Anthony Bradford helped the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots, 29-13, in Super Bowl 60.
Talk about a dream come true for a coach, too.
Bradford recently completed his third NFL season with the Seahawks. He is in an exclusive club of athletes who have won the ultimate prize at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. And he is only 24 years old.
“I don’t think when he was at Muskegon, his thought was, ‘I’m going to win a national championship, I’m going to win a Super Bowl,’” Fairfield said. “And then he won a state championship and he gets to the next level and he’s, like, ‘I’m going to be part of a team that’s going to win a national championship.’ And then you go to Seattle and (in) your third year, next thing you know, you’re in a Super Bowl and you win it.
“I think he’s going to have to pinch himself a couple times to have it sink in. Like I told him (recently) when I saw him, ‘You know, there’s a lot of guys that play in the NFL. There’s only a handful of that go down in the history books of being a Super Bowl champion. That’s something that you are already, that you’ve accomplished, achieved. How does that sound?’ He was, like, ‘Yeah, it doesn’t even sound real.’”
Bradford missed time during the 2024 season with an ankle injury, but battled his way back for the 2025 campaign.
The rest is history.
“He’s fulfilled a lot of happiness for a lot of people – a lot of people in his family, a lot of people in Muskegon, a lot of people at LSU, and a lot of people who are Seattle Seahawk fans,” Fairfield said. “He didn’t do it by himself. He knows he’s just a part of a team trying to accomplish the ultimate goal, and they did it.”
At the Super Bowl, Fairfield and Bartholomew sat with Bradford’s mother, Latoya, as well as others in the family and friends group.
Fairfield and Bartholomew wore their Big Reds state championship rings to the Super Bowl as a sign of Bradford coming full circle.
They could not have been more proud to represent Bradford and Muskegon in Santa Clara.
“Every Uber drive that I took, every line I stood in, or concession stand, or hotel, restaurants, Starbucks, breakfast, people were like, ‘You’re travelers. Where are you from?’ I’d be, like, ‘I’m rooting for the Seahawks. One of my guys that I coached in high school is starting right guard,’” Fairfield said. “Very proud to sit up there (and watch Bradford at the Super Bowl).”
Bartholomew has been with the Big Reds football program since 2010. She moved into the director of football operations role in 2017, Bradford’s junior season.
Bradford stays connected with folks in Muskegon, and Bartholomew is one who remains very close with him. The two had their own full-circle moment, watching Bradford starting in the Super Bowl and hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“For us to, you know, be part of taking him on his journeys and all those kids on those trips (on spring break) and the jokes and the memories that we talked about, then you look down and there’s this grown man now playing a kid’s game and enjoying himself and having the time of his life …,” Fairfield reflected.
“To watch him on the field and block and pass (block) and to (have) the same old charisma of a kid who would be jogging on the field, jogging off the field, and then when the ball was snapped, he took care of business. It was very special.”
When Fairfield was selected for the 2023 NFL Don Shula High School Coach of the Year national award, one of the perks was attending Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas. Bartholomew said that was an honor, but going to watch Bradford in the Super Bowl two years later and sitting with his family and friends was special, “knowing that his Big Red family was included.”
Fairfield said all his players and former players make him proud because of the things the program expects from them, how hard they work, how much they compete, and how much time they’re asked to invest.
Fairfield pointed out many Big Reds have done so many great things for their hometown. Bradford is certainly high on that list.
“It means so much to him. The program means so much to him,” Fairfield said. “But for him to be, you know, in the NFL and with his schedule, and being as busy as they are, and all the trainings and the camps and stuff that he has to continue to go to, to find time to come back and do that camp that he does here and a back-to-school thing where we give out backpacks and we had the field day at Muskegon High School last year.
“He came back and, at 24 you know, that is impressive and just sometimes it’s even hard for me to find all the right words.
“You know, KP (Kalil Pimpleton) made an NFL roster and played with the (New York) Giants a little bit, but to actually have a guy play this long in the league and get (a Super Bowl ring) is a first for me. Sometimes, I still search for words that explain how I feel, but just as long as he knows how proud we are of him. I just continue to pray that God keeps him healthy and hungry so he can have a long and lengthy career and then make sure that it’s, you know, life-changing opportunities and life-changing money that will set up his family’s families for years.”
Fairfield said he feels thankful and blessed to be in the lives of young people at Muskegon High. He feels as though “God has put me in a really good spot.”
Bradford has given countless players in the Big Reds program and in Muskegon Public Schools a reason to dream.
“There’s a country song that I listen to quite a bit,” Fairfield said. “One of the major lines of that is, ‘You’re gonna have to chase your dreams because your dreams don’t chase you.’ He’s definitely one of those guys that has done that.”
Editor’s note: This story was edited for space.
LocalSportsJournal.com
As Shane Fairfield stated, it’s every kid’s dream to not only play in a Super Bowl but to win one.
Not only was the Muskegon High School football coach able to watch one of his former players realize the dream, he was able to do it in person.
Fairfield and Brooke Bartholomew, director of football operations for the Big Reds, were in Levi’s Stadium Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif., as 2019 Muskegon High alumnus Anthony Bradford helped the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots, 29-13, in Super Bowl 60.
Talk about a dream come true for a coach, too.
Bradford recently completed his third NFL season with the Seahawks. He is in an exclusive club of athletes who have won the ultimate prize at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. And he is only 24 years old.
“I don’t think when he was at Muskegon, his thought was, ‘I’m going to win a national championship, I’m going to win a Super Bowl,’” Fairfield said. “And then he won a state championship and he gets to the next level and he’s, like, ‘I’m going to be part of a team that’s going to win a national championship.’ And then you go to Seattle and (in) your third year, next thing you know, you’re in a Super Bowl and you win it.
“I think he’s going to have to pinch himself a couple times to have it sink in. Like I told him (recently) when I saw him, ‘You know, there’s a lot of guys that play in the NFL. There’s only a handful of that go down in the history books of being a Super Bowl champion. That’s something that you are already, that you’ve accomplished, achieved. How does that sound?’ He was, like, ‘Yeah, it doesn’t even sound real.’”
Bradford missed time during the 2024 season with an ankle injury, but battled his way back for the 2025 campaign.
The rest is history.
“He’s fulfilled a lot of happiness for a lot of people – a lot of people in his family, a lot of people in Muskegon, a lot of people at LSU, and a lot of people who are Seattle Seahawk fans,” Fairfield said. “He didn’t do it by himself. He knows he’s just a part of a team trying to accomplish the ultimate goal, and they did it.”
At the Super Bowl, Fairfield and Bartholomew sat with Bradford’s mother, Latoya, as well as others in the family and friends group.
Fairfield and Bartholomew wore their Big Reds state championship rings to the Super Bowl as a sign of Bradford coming full circle.
They could not have been more proud to represent Bradford and Muskegon in Santa Clara.
“Every Uber drive that I took, every line I stood in, or concession stand, or hotel, restaurants, Starbucks, breakfast, people were like, ‘You’re travelers. Where are you from?’ I’d be, like, ‘I’m rooting for the Seahawks. One of my guys that I coached in high school is starting right guard,’” Fairfield said. “Very proud to sit up there (and watch Bradford at the Super Bowl).”
Bartholomew has been with the Big Reds football program since 2010. She moved into the director of football operations role in 2017, Bradford’s junior season.
Bradford stays connected with folks in Muskegon, and Bartholomew is one who remains very close with him. The two had their own full-circle moment, watching Bradford starting in the Super Bowl and hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“For us to, you know, be part of taking him on his journeys and all those kids on those trips (on spring break) and the jokes and the memories that we talked about, then you look down and there’s this grown man now playing a kid’s game and enjoying himself and having the time of his life …,” Fairfield reflected.
“To watch him on the field and block and pass (block) and to (have) the same old charisma of a kid who would be jogging on the field, jogging off the field, and then when the ball was snapped, he took care of business. It was very special.”
When Fairfield was selected for the 2023 NFL Don Shula High School Coach of the Year national award, one of the perks was attending Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas. Bartholomew said that was an honor, but going to watch Bradford in the Super Bowl two years later and sitting with his family and friends was special, “knowing that his Big Red family was included.”
Fairfield said all his players and former players make him proud because of the things the program expects from them, how hard they work, how much they compete, and how much time they’re asked to invest.
Fairfield pointed out many Big Reds have done so many great things for their hometown. Bradford is certainly high on that list.
“It means so much to him. The program means so much to him,” Fairfield said. “But for him to be, you know, in the NFL and with his schedule, and being as busy as they are, and all the trainings and the camps and stuff that he has to continue to go to, to find time to come back and do that camp that he does here and a back-to-school thing where we give out backpacks and we had the field day at Muskegon High School last year.
“He came back and, at 24 you know, that is impressive and just sometimes it’s even hard for me to find all the right words.
“You know, KP (Kalil Pimpleton) made an NFL roster and played with the (New York) Giants a little bit, but to actually have a guy play this long in the league and get (a Super Bowl ring) is a first for me. Sometimes, I still search for words that explain how I feel, but just as long as he knows how proud we are of him. I just continue to pray that God keeps him healthy and hungry so he can have a long and lengthy career and then make sure that it’s, you know, life-changing opportunities and life-changing money that will set up his family’s families for years.”
Fairfield said he feels thankful and blessed to be in the lives of young people at Muskegon High. He feels as though “God has put me in a really good spot.”
Bradford has given countless players in the Big Reds program and in Muskegon Public Schools a reason to dream.
“There’s a country song that I listen to quite a bit,” Fairfield said. “One of the major lines of that is, ‘You’re gonna have to chase your dreams because your dreams don’t chase you.’ He’s definitely one of those guys that has done that.”
Editor’s note: This story was edited for space.
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