by Rusty Ellis
White County senior Bray Frasier will be joining several of his teammates at Bethel University this fall, as he signed his NLI to play football for the Lions after graduation.
It’s a special day for Frasier, as he says he’s excited to continue his football career.
“It’s something that I’ve been working hard for,” Frasier said. “There’s a big sense of accomplishment right now…I’m just excited that I’ve made it this far.”
Frasier’s commitment was an unconventional one of sorts, as he wasn’t really expecting anything until one of his teammates called the coach and he spoke with him.
“It was Hayden Bilbrey, he called up the coach and put me on the phone with him,” Frasier said. “We got to talking and he offered me…a lot of my teammates had gone up there and committed and they all told me I could play.”
New head coach Curtis Beaty has seen Frasier’s progression in his time in Sparta, and he knows this is a moment he truly earned.
“When he first got here, we didn’t know if he was going to play,” Beaty said. “He wasn’t the Bray we see today, and he knew that, so he worked on it and got stronger. He got faster and more agile, and him signing with Bethel is a testament to the work he’s put in…it’s a good fit, it’ll give him that same small town feeling that Sparta has.”
As far as how difficult things will be without him, Beaty says there’s no replacing the motor that Frasier brought to the field.
“We could dictate things defensively, and the team followed his motor,” Beaty said. “That’ll be the hardest part because I don’t know that you can replace that…just looking out there and knowing he’s not out there, the other team also knows it.”
Frasier’s looking forward to playing at the next level, as he feels like there’s unfinished business in his football career.
“I feel like I played at White County and it wasn’t finished,” Frasier said. “I feel like my football life wasn’t finished.”