Villanova Univeristy Athletics

More than 30 years after his graduation Robert Brady remained the only player in Villanova history to lead the team in receiving yards four times and to record over 600 yards every season of his career. Brady was an ECAC and Yankee Conference All-Star in the early years of the Wildcats tenure as an FCS program. He played for Villanova from 1986-89 and is a 1989 graduate who was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in his first year eligible in 2004.
 
Brady finished his stellar collegiate career with 187 receptions for 2,901 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was the Wildcats career leader in receptions and receiving yards at the time of his graduation, with his total yards only being surpassed by Walter Payton Award winner Brian Finneran in 1997. When Brady was inducted to the Hall of Fame, he ranked second in career receiving yards as well as fourth in both receptions and career receiving touchdowns.
 
Villanova was entering its inaugural season as an FCS program when Brady arrived on campus in 1985. A shoulder injury sustained during a high school all-star game that summer kept him out of action that Fall and he redshirted the season while keeping all four years of his collegiate eligibility intact. The year on campus served Brady well however and he emerged as the team’s leading receiver in 1986 when he caught 45 passes for 695 yards and four scores. Villanova went 8-1 with only a two-point loss to Buffalo during the year.
 
In 1987, Brady made 44 catches for 687 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. He was the first player since Mike Siani in 1970 and 1971 to have 10 or more receiving touchdowns in a single season. There had still only been seven such seasons in school history when Brady was selected for Hall of Fame induction. Brady followed up the performance with 45 receptions for 636 yards and six touchdowns in 1988 when the Wildcats joined the Yankee Conference and played against stronger competition, going 5-5-1 on the year and 4-4 in conference play.
 
Brady’s best season was unquestionably his senior year in 1989 when he amassed 883 receiving yards while making 53 receptions and scoring six touchdowns. At the time it was the third-highest single season receiving total in program history and the 883 yards still ranked eighth for a single season at the time of Brady’s Hall of Fame induction. His average of 16.7 yards per reception during the year was fifth in the single season Villanova record book at the time.
 
Villanova made its first-ever appearance on the FCS playoffs in 1989 and took on eventual national champion Georgia Southern in the first round. Although the Wildcats fell in a 52-36 decision, Brady had a monster game with seven catches for 176 yards. He was the first player since Siani to record over 175 receiving yards in a game and it was Brady’s eighth career game with over 100 yards. Brady was named to the Yankee Conference first team offense and the ECAC first team offense for the 1989 season. He had previously been an ECAC weekly honor roll selection during the 1988 campaign.
 
For his career Brady averaged 69.1 receiving yards per game and 15.5 yards per catch. Both of those figures ranked second in school history at the time of his graduation. Brady also contributed to the Wildcats as a punt returner and he recorded 45 punt returns for 241 yards and an average of 5.4 yards per return. He totaled 3,147 all-purpose yards during his career.
 
Brady’s jersey number – 8 – was retired on the Wall of Fame in Villanova Stadium in 2001.