Bragg, Grady - 1990
Grady Bragg was an outstanding cyclist, winning the Georgia Championship consecutively in 1940 and 1941 and qualifying for competition in the National Championships, where he finished fourth (1941). While seeking employment at Union Bag, now International Paper, Bragg was recruited to compete on the company’s boxing team. He quickly gained interest in the sport, but was called away to serve in World War II before getting a chance to make a name for himself. After returning from three and a half years of military service, Bragg incurred a severe and disabling knee injury.
It took nearly two years of hospitalized treatment for Bragg to be once again mobile. Shortly after, he resumed interest in athletics and began organizing boxing teams and coaching at the Boy’s and Young Men’s Clubs. His teams competed and won Golden Glove regional and sectional tournaments with regularity. They also competed in the National Golden Gloves finals in New York. In 1959, Bragg was selected to coach the Southern entry to the Golden Gloves tournament. A serious knee injury changed the course of Grady Bragg’s life, ending a promising athletic career, but opening up a long and successful coaching career.