{"502491":{"#nid":"502491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sean Bedford, BSAE\u002710: Rocket Scientist, Athlete, Lawyer, Jackets Aficionado","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis fall marks a different kind of homecoming for\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESean Bedford,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EBSAE \u201810. The strapping\u0026nbsp; 6\u20191\u201d former Yellow Jackets offensive lineman will\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003Estill\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003Ebe rooting for his alma mater, heart and soul.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EThat will\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003Enever\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;change\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, as the new color commentator for the IMG Radio Network, he\u2019ll have to trade\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Esome\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;of his enthusiasm for a little cool-headed analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat shouldn\u2019t be a problem for Bedford, now a practicing patent attorney with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett \u0026amp; Dunbar, LLC in Atlanta. He gets paid to stick to the facts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd, since he has spent the last two years moonlighting as the commentator on the Jackets pre-game show, he also knows how to keep the gridiron banter crisp.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a lot of fun,\u201d he said after the season opener, Sept. 5, versus Alcorn State\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(66-6).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had a lot of highlights to call and that makes it more enjoyable. My only concern was, \u2018Am I going to run out of positive adjectives to use?\u2019 You can only use \u2018fabulous,\u2019 \u2018phenomenal,\u2019 \u2018tremendous\u2019 and \u2018great\u2019 so many times.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose same words have often been used to describe Bedford, who started his football career at Tech as a walk-on defensive lineman freshman year (2006). Hard work, dedication, and talent led the Gainesville, FL native to earn a scholarship from head coach Paul Johnson and, then, a spot as the team\u2019s starting center. By the time he graduated, Bedford had become a two-time All ACC player; had won the inaugural Burlsworth Trophy, (given to the top college player to begin his career as a walk-on); and was one of just three college players named to Sporting News\u2019 20 Smartest Athletes list.\u0026nbsp; In 2013 CBS Sports named him to their all-walk-on team, as one of the previous decade\u2019s most surprising successes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBorn and bred a Gators fan, Bedford\u2019s love of football made his transition to the Yellow Jackets seamless. His bigger ambitions went beyond the playing field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI have wanted to be an aerospace engineer from the time that I knew what that was,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe whole idea of aviation and space flight has always held a special place in my\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Eheart. The feeling of adventure that is so often absent from modern life was just so clearly present there that I just felt myself drawn to it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBedford maintained this perspective when he chose law school after graduating from Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI got into the work I\u2019m doing now because I found a way to blend my two passions, engineering and law. I love having the opportunities to help inventors protect their inventions, to observe and help to develop new technology at the forefront of innovation. And I love being in a competitive environment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBedford said he uses what he learned at Tech every day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProbably the two most useful tools I learned in the AE program were learning how to prepare and learning how to apply a knowledge base to new environments and challenges,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the hallmarks of a great attorney is approaching each problem from the mindset that you know everything you possibly can so that you\u2019re prepared for every situation. When you\u2019re studying AE at Tech, you don\u2019t really have much of an option but to adopt that approach.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn AE, he says, professors always pushed him to prepare, prepare, and then:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eprepare some more.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cOne time, after a weekend game, Sean came in looking a little tired on Monday,\u201d said Dr. Lakshmi Sankar, one of his GT-AE professors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo I asked him if the reason was that he played really hard.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENo, that wasn\u2019t the reason\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo I said, \u201cWell maybe you had a little too much fun after the game?\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBedford shook his head.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201c\u2018No, it wasn\u2019t the game or the party. It was your homework\u2026It was really hard. I was up late doing it.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESankar laughs at this now. No complaints or apologies: Bedford was just stating the facts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022He was a very good student,\u0022 Sankar added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBedford\u2019s dogged attention to detail was just as helpful to him in football. When he was on the Yellow Jackets scout team, he watched video of the other teams so he could imitate them during practice to help the varsity squad prepare for a game. Now, as a color commentator, he studies the other teams so he can be familiar with their plays and players when he\u2019s calling a game.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrepare, prepare, and then:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eprepare some more\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt never changes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd Bedford doesn\u2019t want it to. It\u2019s a formula that has bred success in every aspect of his life. And he\u2019s quick to predict that it will do the same for those who come after him at his alma mater.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf there\u2019s any student out there who\u2019s thinking about pursuing aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech, I can\u2019t recommend it strongly enough. It will take you places you\u2019ve never imagined.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026nbsp;","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"You are inHomeSean Bedford, BSAE \u002710: Rocket Scientist, Athlete, Lawyer, Jackets Aficionado Sean Bedford, BSAE \u002710: Rocket Scientist, Athlete, Lawyer, Jackets Aficionado  View Edit Sep 30, 2015  Offensive Lineman Sean Bedford was a nationally recognized s"}],"uid":"30502","created_gmt":"2016-02-17 17:55:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:46","author":"Sapna Mistry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"502481":{"id":"502481","type":"image","title":"Sean Bedford","body":null,"created":"1455904800","gmt_created":"2016-02-19 18:00:00","changed":"1475895263","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:23","alt":"Sean Bedford","file":{"fid":"204753","name":"bedford-broadcast_studio_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bedford-broadcast_studio_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bedford-broadcast_studio_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":852142,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bedford-broadcast_studio_0_0.jpg?itok=XsSNonJd"}}},"media_ids":["502481"],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"171737","name":"Color Commentator"},{"id":"126111","name":"GT-AE"},{"id":"171738","name":"IMG Radio Network"},{"id":"169767","name":"Sean Bedford"},{"id":"171739","name":"Yellow Jackets Offensive Lineman"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kathleen.moore@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}