Donny Brady » Donny's Story

Donny's Story

Perhaps Donald Brady should be referred to as King Midas – because anything he touches turns to pure gold. Brady has been a superstar since his early beginnings at Mepham High School where he was an all around star athlete. In track and field he received All-State, All-Conference and All-County honors in the triple jump.  However, his star shone brightest in football where he was an all-county selection.  As a senior he rushed for 984 yards and 11 touchdowns.  After his senior football season Brady wasn’t bombarded with offers from major division 1-A programs.  The only offers the raw and rangy 5’11” 165lbs. high school running back/cornerback fielded were from smaller college programs but Brady had a gilded vision of playing in big Bowl games on the major college football stage, a vision that would become a reality.  This wasn’t exactly a disappointment for Donny but more like incentive to get there.  To Brady, Nassau Community College wasn’t a disappointment but a great opportunity. He had the pleasure to play for one of the top junior college football programs in the nation but most importantly he was also able to improve on his grades and also enhance his size and skills.

That plan was ultimately a success and he was a standout performer during his 2-yr career at Nassau Community College (Uniondale, NY) at cornerback.  He contributed to the team’s 21-1 record over those 2 seasons with 91 total tackles, 15 pass deflections and five interceptions.  With 2 yrs of the development of his size and skill Donny reaped the benefits of his hard work and was offered a full scholarship to finish his remaining two years of eligibility in the mighty Big Ten conference as a University of Wisconsin Badger. 

Two years removed from his previous undeveloped rangy frame enters a 6’1” 180lb more experienced Brady as he steps on the major college football stage as a Wisconsin Badger.  And what larger stage could the 80^th Rose Bowl game on new years day in 1994 be for a cornerback that two years prior played at a community college. In that game, Brady helped the Badgers get a win over UCLA; from community college to Pasadena in one year – not a bad jump.  Even upon arriving at UW Brady wasn’t immediately pegged as a starter partly because of entering the season with a sprained knee injury that hampered him. But after rebounding with 36 tackles (27 solo), three interceptions and four pass deflections not to mention a key pass deflection in a 21-16 decision over UCLA in the Rose bowl Brady was primed for greatness.  Brady finished his Badger career during his senior year with 58 tackles (48 solo) and seven pass deflections. He was now eyeing his ultimate goal – reaching the NFL. 

But after finishing his career at UW he wasn’t drafted.  Then again Brady was used to being considered the underdog and played the position to his advantage. Brady was picked up as a free agent by the Cleveland Browns on May 2, 1995 but unfortunately was dropped before the preseason.  Surely, quitting wasn’t in his nature. The NFL was something he envisioned as far back as he can remember.  In order to stay sharp and ready in case the opportunity rang again, Brady ventured to the Canadian Football League and did a brief stint with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. And on December 13, 1995 the phone did ring and it was the Browns offering him a spot on their practice squad.  Three days after working out on the practice squad Brady was activated on the regular season roster where he saw action in two games on special teams.   

The next season after the team moved to Baltimore Brady continued to impress the Ravens coaching staff.  In week 4 of the 1996 season, he moved in to the starting right cornerback position and started the remaining 13 weeks finishing with 66 tackles and 10 passes defended.  Brady remained with the Ravens for the next two season seeing action in 45 of 48 games also excelling on special teams where he led the team in 1997 with 19 special team tackles and finished third in 1998 with 14.   

A nagging knee injury from college came back to haunt Brady when he became a free agent. Doctors informed him he had torn ligaments in his right knee that never fully healed. After sitting out the next two seasons extensively rehabbing his knee he was ready to return to action. During that time Brady was able to work as an assistant with the Wisconsin football strength and conditioning program.  That experience opened his eyes to the possibilities of training. His love for the game wouldn’t ever allow him to leave but he knew that through that venture he could help other passionate athletes such as himself in their vision. He believed his time on the field had not run out just yet, and he was confident he’d get to prove just that.  On April 2, 2002, the CFL called and presented him with another opportunity and Brady inked a deal with the Edmonton Eskimos. He tucked away his passion for training and made playing his main focus, knowing that in his heart he could revisit it at a more appropriate time.    

During his CFL career Brady became known as one of the leagues most physical and aggressive defenders, often lining up against the opposing teams best receivers.  Upon his arrival in Edmonton, Brady was an immediate impact player for the Eskimos. While with the Eskimos he helped lead the team to three Grey Cup appearances (2002, 2003, 2005) winning the title in 03’ and 05’.  During his six seasons in Edmonton, not only did Brady have a reputation as one of the leagues most gritty and gifted defensive backs, but that same reputation earned him the accolades to prove it.  Brady was named CFL All-Star in 2003 & 2005, West Division All-star in 2003 & 2005 and also awarded Defensive Payer of the Week twice in 2003 and twice in 2004.   

As Brady’s career came to an end in 2006 he knew he wanted to stay close to the game of football and from working with the UW football strength and conditioning program he knew athletic training could be a very good outlet for that.  Even with a ten year long career in football he did not want to limit his training methods to just training football players.  Instead he wanted to expand this challenge of building the elite athlete to accommodate all athletes of all sports even recreational fitness aficionados.  The purpose was to turn the average athlete into an elite athlete.  Having trained elite athletes such as Chris Chambers (San Diego Chargers), Lee Evans (Buffalo Bills), Sean Lyons (Long Island Lizards LAX), and Jim Leonard (New York Jets) Brady knew he could help cultivate top athletes. 

In 2006 Donny established Envision Athletics.  The idea was to not only facilitate football athletes, but to take the average athlete of any sport and fine tune their abilities.  It was to not only develop them physically but to enhance them mentally which is an often forgotten key component. Brady wanted for Envision athletes to build the confidence, determination and will power to understand any feat can be accomplished in life on or off the athletic fields.  Envision athletics takes an athletes vision of where they want their potential to take them, and have them see that vision and believe that they have what it takes to reach it.  The goal of Envisions staff is to infuse the spirit of Donald Brady’s in the shaping of the athletes path to accomplish their ultimate goals.