Career: Played in 50 career games with 34 starts ... Blossomed into one of college football's top safeties ... Was the defense's number-one coach on the field, along with fellow safety Brendan Smith, in his final two seasons with NU ... Excellent athlete who understood the game and was always in the right place ... Physical, hard-hitting safety ... Great football IQ ... Possessed strong coverage skills ... Great leadership skills ... Finished career with eight forced fumbles, 257 tackles and five interceptions.
2009: Played in all 13 games, starting 12 ... Tabbed a first-team preseason All-Big Ten selection by Sporting News and Athlon Sports, second-team by Lindy's and third-team by Phil Steele's ... Named first-team All-Big Ten by coaches and second-team all-league by media ... Recipient of team's Randy Walker Wildcat Warrior Award (given to a player who demonstrates the work ethic, toughness and attitude of a warrior) ... Ranked second on team with 86 tackles ... Added 5.0 TFL's (including 3.0 sacks) ... Ranked 21st in the Big Ten with 6.6 tackles per game and tied for third with five forced fumbles ... Ranked 10th nationally in forced fumbles per game ... Was named team's defensive big playmaker in Syracuse and Miami games and team's defensive player of the game vs. Purdue and Wisconsin ... Notched two tackles and a forced fumble vs. Auburn in the Outback Bowl ... Set a season high and led NU's defense with 12 tackles (11 solo) and one sack in Senior Day win over Wisconsin ... Six tackles at Illinois ... Led the defense with 10 tackles at Iowa and forced his fourth fumble of the year ... Recorded six stops and one QB hurry vs. Penn State ... Saw his string of 28 straight starts snapped vs. Indiana due to injury, but did play in the game and racked up six tackles with one TFL ... Three tackles at Michigan State before leaving the game in the first half with an upper body injury ... 11 tackles -- including one sack -- against Miami ... Notched six tackles, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery at Purdue ... Seven stops and one pass breakup vs. Minnesota ... Led defense with seven tackles at Syracuse while also forcing a fumble, posting his second career sack and recording his fifth career interception ... Six tackles against Eastern Michigan ... Recorded four tackles (two solo) in season-opener vs. Towson ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2008: Consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection ... Recipient of team's Marcel Price Award (given to player who best exhibits enthusiasm and dedication to the Wildcat program and is symbolic of the former NU player's desire) ... Named to ESPN's "All-MayDay" postseason team ... Has started 22 career games at safety and has a string of 21 consecutive starts ... Team leader in tackles with 109 ... Earned NU's defensive player of the game honors three straight weeks (Iowa, MSU and Purdue) ... Also picked up the same honor for his effort against Ohio State ... Finished fifth in Big Ten with 8.4 stops per game ... In 2008 Alamo Bowl vs. Missouri, he racked up eight tackles and intercepted Missouri QB Chase Daniel for his third pick of the season, which tied for the team lead ... Against Illinois, notched nine tackles, 1.5 TFL's and 0.5 sacks along with a pass breakup and QB hurry ... Tied for team lead with seven at Michigan and had one pass breakup ... Against Ohio State, racked up 10 tackles and 0.5 TFL's ... Eight tackles, including one TFL, and a forced fumble at Minnesota ... Recorded a team-best eight stops to go with two pass breakups at Indiana ... Against Purdue, picked off his second pass in 2008 and finished with seven tackles ... Totaled a career-best 14 tackles, including a 0.5 TFL, against Michigan State ... Had one of his career's top outings at Iowa: 11 tackles, which included two TFL's (one sack), and a huge forced fumble ... His hit on Iowa RB Shonn Greene forced the ball to come out and NU recovered, which led to the game-winning points ... Earned team's defensive player of the game honors vs. Iowa and MSU ... Shared the team lead in tackles against Southern Illinois, with seven hits and an assisted TFL ... Against Ohio, picked off the second pass of his career while recording eight tackles, 0.5 TFL and two pass breakups to earn defensive big play performer honors ... At Duke, registered seven tackles ... Totaled five tackles against Syracuse, helping limit SU to 103 yards through the air ... 163 career tackles and three career interceptions ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2007: Academic All-Big Ten ... Made first career start at strong safety vs. Northeastern ... Handled starting duties at strong safety in place of the injured Brendan Smith ... Responded with four tackles and two pass breakups vs. the Huskies ... Four tackles and a pass breakup vs. Nevada ... One tackle vs. Ohio State ... Started Michigan game and notched four tackles vs. the Wolverines ... Recorded seven tackles at MSU ... Season-high nine tackles, including a TFL, vs. Minnesota ... Totaled five tackles vs. Eastern Michigan, along with two big defensive plays: forced a fumble at NU's 4-yard line, which David Ngene recovered, and picked off his first career interception at the NU 5-yard line ... Named NU's defensive big playmaker for the game ... Eight solo hits at Purdue ... Totaled three tackles and 0.5 TFL vs. Iowa ... Four hits vs. Indiana ... Six tackles at Illinois ... Ranked fifth on team with four deflections.
2006: Played in all 12 games, mostly on special teams and at reserve safety ... Totaled seven tackles and one pass deflection ... Three tackles vs. Michigan State.
High School: A first-team Associated Press Class AAA all-state selection ... Played quarterback and cornerback for the Panthers ... Member of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Fab 22" team ... Also earned first-team WPIAL all-conference honors ... Pennsylvania "Platinum 33" member and first-team East "Elite" honoree ... Nominated to play in the Pennsylvania/Ohio Big 33 and Pennsylvania East-West All-Star games ... Team captain who led the Panthers to an 8-1 record in 2005 and the Greater Allegheny Conference championship ... Franklin went on to win the 2005 WPIAL Class 3A conference title and the 2005 PIAA Class 3A state crown (15-1) ... Named team's Player of the Week four times as a senior ... Rushed for 867 yards (8.8 ypc) ... Completed 57-of-109 passes for 1,114 yards ... Accounted for 20 touchdowns ... Defensively, recorded 47 solo tackles and two interceptions ... NHS and Highest Honors with Distinction ... Also lettered in basketball ... Coached by Greg Botta.
Personal: Born Bradley Richard Phillips ... Son of Mary and Duane Phillips ... Father is a Northwestern graduate and two-year football letterwinner (1973-74) ... Played against Nate Williams, another current Northwestern player ... Psychology major and business institutions minor.
The Phillips File
Q: Name five favorite songs (and artist) on your I-Pod:
A: Jeremy Camp -- Walk by Faith; Jason Aldean -- I'm Just a Man; Shawn McDonald -- Don't Walk Away; Rodney Atkins -- These are My People; Kenny Chesney -- Never Wanted Nothing More
Q: If you could dine with anyone from any period in history, who would it be?
A: Jesus
Q: What is the greatest lesson in life that you have learned?
A: Philippians 4:13
Q: A song that best describes you?
A: Jeremy Camp -- Walk by Faith
Q: My favorite place to visit is:
A: Somewhere in mountains, or the beach
Q: My favorite thing about NU is:
A: The view from the lakefill
Q: Best part about being a Northwestern football player is:
A: Playing football
Q: Describe Coach Fitzgerald in five words or less:
A: He is determined
Q: Most humbling experience:
A: Being in the presence of the Lord
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
A: Becoming a Northwestern football player
Q: The best book I have ever read is:
A: Any one of the Potter Series
Q: The person that inspires me the most is:
A: My sister, Krista
Q: When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be:
A: Either Jerome Bettis or Rod Woodson
Q: My favorite pregame ritual is:
A: Listening to music
Q: If you could have a starring role in any film already made, which movie would you pick?
A: Sylvester Stallone in Cliff Hanger
Q: My favorite food is:
A: My mom's chicken salad
Q: My favorite thing about playing at Ryan Field is:
A: Calling it home
Q: Best thing about Northwestern is:
A: The education
Q: My favorite television show is:
A: Man vs. Wild
Q: If I were not playing football, I would be:
A: Probably at some small college and hunting/fishing a lot
Phillips' Career Stats
KICK RETURNS G No. Yds TD Lg Avg/R Avg/G2006................ 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02007................ 12 1 11 0 11 11.0 0.92008................ 13 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02009................ 13 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0TOTAL............... 50 1 11 0 11 11.0 0.2
INTERCEPTIONS G No Yds TD Lg Avg/R Avg/G2006................ 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02007................ 12 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.02008................ 13 3 4 0 4 1.3 0.32009................ 13 1 23 0 23 23.0 1.8TOTAL............... 50 5 27 0 23 5.4 0.5
ALL PURPOSE G Rush Rec PR KR IR Total Avg/G2006................ 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.02007................ 12 0 0 0 11 0 11 0.92008................ 13 0 0 0 0 4 4 0.32009................ 13 0 0 0 0 23 23 1.8TOTAL............... 50 0 0 0 11 27 38 0.8
TACKLES G UA A Total TFL-Yds PD FF FR Blkd2006................ 12 5 2 7 0.0-0 1 0 0 02007................ 12 32 23 55 1.5-3 5 1 0 02008................ 13 56 53 109 6.0-23 9 2 0 02009................ 13 51 35 86 5.0-27 3 5 1 0TOTAL............... 50 144 113 257 12.5-53 18 8 1 0
SACKS G UA A Total Yds2006................ 12 0 0 0.0 02007................ 12 0 0 0.0 02008................ 13 1 1 1.5 112009................ 13 3 0 3.0 21TOTAL............... 50 4 1 4.5 32