WXXV Staff

The 2022-2023 school year has almost come and gone and yet somehow, we haven’t yet featured someone from the 5A football state champion Picayune Maroon Tide.

That’s all changing tonight as we check in with dual-sport standout Brady Robertson who is gunning for yet another ring to close out his junior year.

As a kid, Picayune’s Brady Robertson always had a ball in his hand and it didn’t really matter whether it was a football or a baseball. “Baseball came before football. I’ve been playing baseball since I was four, and I think I’ve been playing football since I was eight or seven. My first love really was football. That’s what I wanted to play when I grew up, I wanted to play in the NFL like every other kid, but whenever I got up here, I just started liking the environment and baseball just became my love really.”

Currently in the spring semester of his junior year, Robertson has all eyes on the diamond. He’s a multifaceted member of the Picayune baseball team, spending time on the mound, left field, first base, and getting time in the batter’s box. “I like hitting. I love pitching, but I like hitting, and it’s fun because being a pitcher, I think you have an advantage to knowing what’s coming in what situation and all these other things. I just think it’s really fun being able to do both… not only being a pitcher or not only being a hitter, so I think it’s special.”

Something special about the Maroon Tide program is its commitment and determination to the game so much so that Robertson is now legally blond. “If you see our hair, we all have blonde hair, so I think that that’s a pretty huge thing. For everybody to go bleach their hair and stuff like that to see how really dedicated they are.”

And it seems to work as the Tide recently claimed the Region 7 Class 5A title. “Winning district was a big thing that we’ve wanted to do since we were freshman… since the junior class was freshman because we’ve been here, and starting off we were 5 and 19… and winning district you know kind of opened our eyes how we can really do this.”

If Picayune’s strong bond isn’t already evident, Robertson gets to share the diamond with his younger brother, Colt. “It’s extremely special. Growing up with him my whole life, it’s been a blessing. The first day he got here I knew he was who I wanted to be good for and do the right things for and that kind of stuff.”

Already an impressive story and we haven’t even touched on his back-to-back rings in football. As the quarterback in a run-heavy power offense, Robertson is the unsung hero often throwing more blocks than passes like the one where he sprang Dante Dowdell for the final touchdown of the 2022 5A state title game. “That was fun honestly…man that was huge. There have been a few blocks this year that I’ve gotten like that, and that one I’d say topped it off for me. That was unbelievable.”

For the season, Robertson threw for nearly 900 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions to go along with another score on the ground.

He only threw the ball 74 times all season, completing 36 of those throws at an average clip of nearly 25 yards down the field including an 80-yard touchdown pitch and catch with Darrell Smith earlier in that same championship moment. “Really being a leader was huge for me. That’s just my personality really, I like leading. I try to do the best I can out here too, so most of the guys… it was a blessing to play with them really.”

Following graduation, Robertson plans on attending PRCC to continue playing baseball.