OAKLAND, Calif. – They were stars on the same campus. They dreamed the same dreams. It was only a matter of time before they would cross each other’s paths.

Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley and Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas have forged a friendship that has lasted more than five years and crossed between two sports. Interestingly enough, their relationship was born out of pure coincidence.

The two star athletes knew of each other far before the day they first met. Bradley arrived on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas during the fall of 2009 as the nation’s top basketball recruit. Thomas, meanwhile, was a rising sophomore star for the Longhorns football team.

Collegiate sports teams, as many athletes would attest, are like fraternities on campus. They rarely interact and almost never share the same air. The basketball team has its own crew and its own house, as does the football team, and so on. Such circumstances prevented Bradley and Thomas from exchanging so much as a nod of acknowledgement during the time they shared at Texas.

“We would see each other at school,” Bradley explained, “but we never really talked.”

That all changed shortly after the two exited Austin.

Bradley, whom ESPNU ranked as the nation’s top prospect coming out of high school, immediately stepped into a leading role with the Longhorns upon his arrival on campus. He started 32 of the team’s 34 games and ranked second on the team in scoring.

Thomas experienced similar success during his two seasons with the Longhorns. He started all 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2008, ranking second on the team with 70 tackles and two interceptions. He was even better the next season, racking up 65 tackles and eight interceptions to help Texas reach the BCS National Championship Game.

Needless to say, professional scouts followed each player’s trail throughout the 2009-10 season. Bradley and Thomas were projected as first-round draft picks at the next level.

Each player had spent his entire life dreaming of becoming a professional athlete, Bradley in the NBA, and Thomas in the NFL. Now was their chance to make it happen.

Bradley officially declared for the NBA Draft on April 6, 2010. He was chosen 19th overall by the Celtics on June 24, 2010.

Thomas declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft on Jan. 8, 2010. He was drafted 14th overall by the Seattle Seahawks on April 25, 2010.

Bradley was in his hometown of Tacoma, Wash., which is 30 miles northeast of Seattle, on the night of the 2010 NBA Draft. He received a congratulatory phone call from Danny Ainge, who told the soon-to-be rookie that the Celtics needed him to hop on an early flight to Boston the next morning, on June 25.

Weeks prior, one would assume, the Seahawks had instructed Thomas that he needed to be in Seattle ahead of their May 11 kickoff of offseason organized team activities, better known as OTAs. Thomas just so happened to choose the morning of June 25 as his arrival date, putting himself and Bradley on an unsuspected collision course.

“I saw him at the airport,” Bradley recalled with a hint of disbelief. “We made eye contact and he was like, ‘What are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘I’m from here!”

That’s where it all started.

Bradley and Thomas chatted for a while about how they were drafted, where they were headed, and everything else between. They connected quickly, forging an instant bond that was only strengthened by their Longhorn ties. Bradley, as he recalled, instantly felt a need to look out for his new friend.

“I was like, ‘Man, whatever you need, I’ve got you in Washington. This is my home, and if you need help with anything, my family can help you,’” Bradley remembered saying to Thomas as they went their separate ways.

The two kept in contact throughout their varying rookie seasons. Thomas was an immediate star with the Seahawks, tallying 64 tackles and five picks during his first season. Bradley, meanwhile, as he attempted to recover from his surgically-repaired ankle injury.

Their varying degrees of rookie success did not hinder their long-distance friendship. In fact, quite the opposite took place. Bradley and Thomas saw their relationship strengthen as they entered the following offseason.

“That summer when I came back after my rookie year, we hung out every day maybe for two weeks,” said Bradley. “Like every single day.”

The two weren’t playing video games, as one might suspect of two 19- and 20-year-olds. Instead, they were learning habits that would lay the foundation for their future success.

“He would take us downstairs and watch film,” Bradley remembered. “He used to tell us about how much film (former Seahawks cornerback) Marcus Trufant used to watch, how he learned a lot from him.”

Thomas took well to that practice, which eventually rubbed off onto Bradley.

“I’ve learned that every little thing can help in this game at this level,” Bradley said of the lessons he’s taken from Thomas’ success. “What I mean by that is how he watches film.

“This year I’ve been watching a lot of film on myself and opponents so I can learn things from other people, little tricks, because I’m trying to be the best player that I can be. That’s what he was doing then, when he was a rookie, his rookie summer. That’s one reason why he’s, to me, the best safety in the NFL.”

Thomas certainly has made a strong case for that title. He has been selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls and has the sixth-most interceptions (16) in the NFL since 2010.

The NFL has come to fear Thomas. He’s a ball-hawking defender who is capable of both making the big play and laying a big hit. Although he plays on a field and Bradley on a court, the Celtics guard sees similarities between the two when it comes to their style of play.

“Some people say that I play like a dog, like how I move and how aggressive I am,” Bradley confidently stated. “That’s how Earl is on the field. If you notice, every single game, Earl is around, either making the tackle or around it. Every single time a play is made he’s right there.”

Thomas’ presence has been a key cog in Seattle’s recent success. The Seahawks will attempt to win their second consecutive Super Bowl on Sunday when they take on the New England Patriots.

Seattle’s two-year stretch may have caught many by surprise, but Bradley was most definitely not in that group. His friendship with Thomas led him to anticipate Seattle’s emergence as an NFL power.

“They didn’t play very well (during Thomas’ rookie year) but I remember he always used to tell me, ‘Bro, I promise you we’re going to be good,’” Bradley explained. “He said, ‘We’ve got a lot of young guys. They’re good, man.’ And last year they blew up. They came out of nowhere.”

As Bradley made that comment, he seemed to realize that he is now in his friend’s shoes. Bradley is an up-and-coming payer on a Celtics team that is loaded with talented youth. He’s now the one who’s predicting success in the near future for his team.

“I feel like Danny (Ainge) and Brad (Stevens) do an amazing job and you can see the progression now,” Bradley said of his Celtics after a narrow defeat to the Warriors, who stood as the league’s best team at the time. “We’ve been improving every single game on this road trip.”

Bradley hopes that his young team can one day take the NBA by storm in the same fashion that Thomas’ Seahawks have the NFL over the past two years. Such would only add to the commonality between these two destined friends.

Two Texas programs battling for campus supremacy delayed the birth of a cross-sport friendship. Pure coincidence eventually walked Bradley and Thomas down the same path, and the rest, as they say, is history.