Former SUU QB earning time in the NFL

Brad Sorensen was running out of time.

The week leading up to his third NFL training camp with the San Diego Chargers, the former Southern Utah quarterback's wife, Nikki, was approaching full term. The couple had hopes their son would come before Brad had to leave Salt Lake for Southern California.

There were false hopes; heavy contractions and hospital visits, but the baby boy didn't come.

Last Monday, Brad couldn't wait anymore. Just two days before he needed to report to camp, he packed up his car and drove to his parent's house in Riverside, California. He woke up the next morning to calls and texts from his family and wife.

Nikki's water had broke, his son was on his way.

He called his coaches and they told him to "go back." He scrambled to find a flight, searching airport after airport before finding one and made it back to Salt Lake, just in in time to see his son born.

"It was kind of a crazy 24 hours of driving all night and then flying to right back to where I left from," Brad said on Tuesday. "But I think it worked out great, I think it was the best time for him to come, so I didn't miss a whole lot of camp."

Brad is no stranger to movement. Before ending up in Cedar City, he was being buried on the depth chart at BYU. A walk on, fifth stringer that was deemed just good enough to make the team, but not actually talented enough to play in Provo.

After red-shirting the 2009 season at BYU, he left for Southern Utah, where things worked out a little bit better. He started for the T-Birds from 2010-12, becoming the school's all-time leader in yards (9,445) and touchdowns (61) and then became school's first NFL draft selection, getting taken in the seventh round in 2013.

But when he first stepped on SUU's campus, the thought of the NFL never really crossed his mind. How could it? All he had been was a scout team quarterback with the Cougars.

But as scouts came by SUU to take a look at the T-Bird upperclassman, they were soon glancing in his direction.

"I'd hear things here or there, but I never believed it myself," Brad said.

That was until his senior year. His monster numbers and athletic profile earned him an invitation to the official NFL combine.

"That was a big thing for me," he said. "That's when it kind of was like maybe this is a reality. This is not what this guy says or what this person says, I'm one of 300 people that got to go to the combine. That's when it kind of started to sink in."

During his drive to San Diego for training camp, Brad passed through the unlikely place that helped turn him into an NFL quarterback. He stopped by to see SUU head coach Ed Lamb, the coach that helped him set records and earn a place in the pros.

"He's as positive as he could possibly be," Lamb said. "The staff there is very positive about his opportunity and the plans for the future for him. They expect him to take the starting quarterback job at some point, if there's any impatience on the Chargers part, they're telling him, you're ready, you have the skills, it's time to take the job.'"

Since being taken in the 2013 NFL Draft, Brad hasn't had the easiest road. In his first season with the Chargers, he was inactive for all 16 games, serving as the team's third quarterback. Things didn't get better in year two. Brad was released at the end of training camp last season. He was picked up by the Titans for a week, playing on their practice squad, before again signing with the Chargers last December.

With that much uncertainty plaguing him a season ago, Brad is not looking too far into the future. He is one of four quarterbacks in camp, with only three expected to make the final 53-man roster. His goal for now is to just stick with team.

"They aren't trying to paint a big picture," Brad said. "Right now it's who are the best 53 players that we have, right now. The roster can go several different ways depending on the needs of the team. I'm just trying to do what I can each day to get better and to do what they ask and the rest will figure itself out -- for this season. That's all you can focus on right now is this season. Next season is not guaranteed. Right now, it's just focus on what I need to do today to get ready for practice and for the first preseason game."

He doesn't want to get too ahead of himself because, well, he doesn't want to run out of time.

Follow Ryan Miller, @millerjryan. Call him at 435-865-4530.

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