Brad Ramsey ’88 graduated as the leading rusher in Franklin & Marshall College football history, and his 2,035 yards remain fourth on F&M’s all-time list. A four-year starter, he accumulated 746 of those yards as a senior in 1987, when he served as co-captain of a team that went undefeated in Centennial Conference (CC) play. The Diplomats also beat Kean that year in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoffs, the first postseason victory in school history.
“He’s as good a running back as we’ve had since I’ve been at F&M,” Coach Tom Gilburg told the Lancaster New Era during the 1987 season.
Gilburg added that while the 5-foot-8, 164-pound Ramsey was smaller than his predecessors, his size was hardly a hindrance.
“He plays big,” Gilburg said. “He’s probably the most aggressive back we’ve had. He’s totally reckless. He has no regard for his body or anybody else’s. He’s unbelievable.”
Ramsey, who carried the ball 520 times and scored 18 touchdowns in his career (both fourth on F&M’s all-time lists), blended balance and quickness, according to Gilburg. Moreover, he was unselfish.
“He gives so much of himself,” Gilburg noted. “You can’t help getting excited, watching him. The thing that makes Brad so special is that when he doesn’t have the football in his hands, he’s getting somebody. He’s blocking. On passes caught downfield, he’s the first guy there. He’s always around the football, regardless of who has it.”
Ramsey, who played at perennial power Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa., was originally recruited to wrestle at F&M. His only stipulation was that he be allowed to play football as well. That all changed following his success as a freshman on the gridiron—and as a result of his difficulty making weight after gaining 20 pounds of muscle during the football season.
Ramsey ran 110 times for 435 yards and six touchdowns in his first year, when the Diplomats finished 5-4. F&M improved to 7-2-1 his second season, and he likewise increased his production, running 117 times for 501 yards and six touchdowns.
The Diplomats finished 8-3 and won the first of two consecutive CC championships his junior year, a season that saw him rush for 353 yards on 82 attempts.
The 1987 season, Ramsey’s senior year, was the 100th for F&M football, and hopes were high.
F&M lived up to expectations as the Diplomats finished 9-1-1, with the only blemishes on their record a 20-16 loss to Division I Fordham and a 3-3 tie with Georgetown. They swept their other opponents to repeat as conference champions, beat Kean, and were slated to play Plymouth State for the ECAC South Championship, only to run up against NCAA rules that at the time prohibited Division III teams from playing more than 11 games in one season.
Ramsey told the College Reporter that the abrupt ending was “a real shock,” and that the team had already begun preparations for the championship game.
Ramsey graduated after contributing to one of the greatest four-year spans in F&M football history. During that time, F&M compiled a 29-9-1 record and won two conference championships with Ramsey a key part of that success.
Ramsey’s greatest memories include playing every week with teammates and an undefeated season that ended with an ECAC championship in 1987.
Following graduation, Ramsey played two seasons with the Basildon Braves football team in Essex, England. Upon returning to the States, he served as an assistant coach at Kutztown University, before spending nine years as a defensive coordinator and later head coach at Coral Shores High School in Florida. He recently returned to coaching as defensive coordinator at Windermere Prep in Orlando, Fla., where he was recognized as “Teacher of the Year” for his work teaching International Baccalaureate Visual Arts.
He currently resides in Orlando with his wife, Dr. Ellen Ramsey, with whom he has a daughter, Megan. He frequently travels throughout the Caribbean and Florida Keys, but also finds time to paint. His paintings are displayed in galleries throughout southern Florida.
