It would be an understatement to say that my son Bradley loves football.  

He’s literally been around the sport his entire life and I’m not joking when I say even before he was born.  That’s because my wife Sheryl and I went to a Jets game and an Arena Bowl when she was pregnant with him.  In fact, less than an hour after he was born, I was convinced that Bradley knew a thing or two about football because when I told him he was a Jets fan he started crying. 

All joking aside, Bradley was exposed to the sport at a very young age.

When I was the play-by-play announcer for the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League, I took him to practice with me every day.  He went from just being in his car seat to eventually running around with the players after practice. Bradley always seemed to have a football in his hands whether it was a little one that he played with or picking up one at practice and giving it back to a Dragons player. 

My wife has also been a big football influence on Bradley.  She’s always been a huge football fan and would always bring Bradley to the Dragons games and brought him up to see me in the booth at halftime.  It goes without saying that if you read my blog here last week, you know how great of a football mom she has been to Bradley.

There is another reason why Bradley loves football. 

Every kid that plays football typically has a hero, or someone that inspires them to play the game they love. There’s no question in my mind that Bradley’s football idol is his cousin, Stephen Johnson.  He has always looked up to his big cousin, not just because of football, but because Stephen has always been like a big brother to Bradley.

My nephew played pee-wee football on Long Island and would go on to play in middle school and in high school.  He developed into a terrific center and Bradley loved to watch him play.  Prior to his fourth year playing football, Bradley decided that he wanted to play center like his cousin and told his coach about it on the first day of training camp.

Bradley always watched what Stephen did very closely and asked him to show him how to do it.  Even before he started playing the position, Bradley would just grab a football, go outside, and start snapping.  He picked it up very quickly and Stephen was a big reason why.  It should come to nobody’s surprise that Bradley became the starting center and is still doing that today. 

Bradley has played football since he was four years old and is now a seven-year veteran at the age of eleven.  Because of what I do for a living as a sports reporter and the passion that my wife has for the game, we’ve been to enough games and events as a family over the years that have allowed Bradley the opportunity to meet many current and former NFL players.  

Bradley picked 60 for his first pee-wee uniform number because he knew that it was former Jets lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson’s number.  When he eventually became his team’s starting center, 74 was his choice because it was the number worn by former Jets center Nick Mangold. Bradley may have honored those players by wearing their numbers, but he has honored his cousin by playing center, working hard to get better, and playing the game with a passion. 

My nephew Stephen is a really good kid.  

After I met Sheryl, Stephen and I became real buddies.  I tried hard to be the best Uncle I could be and well before I came into the picture, my wife had already established herself as an awesome Aunt.  We took Stephen to all kinds of games and I was honored when he invited me to come to his school on special person’s day.  

When Sheryl and I were planning our wedding, there was only one choice to be the ring bearer and that was Stephen.  He was also the first kid in the family to benefit from my job as Dragons announcer because he would go to all the games and his pee-wee team even played a game at Nassau Coliseum before a Dragons game. 

Stephen stopped playing football after high school but he is still a big football influence on Bradley.  They’re always talking football and Stephen makes it to some of Bradley’s games when his college and work schedule allows it. 

When we planned a trip to Jets training camp last season, Bradley insisted that we take Stephen with us. 

In a perfect world, the biggest heroes in a child’s life should be his or her parents.  When it comes to football, there’s no question that the Schwartz family is a football family and that comes from both my wife and I.  But I have no problem admitting that when it comes to a football hero for Bradley, Stephen is the one who holds that title.

Sheryl and I may have created Bradley Schwartz the football fan, but I'm proud to say that my nephew Stephen Johnson is in the true inspiration for Bradley Schwartz the football player.  He is the player he is today because of his cousin and maybe one day he’ll give Stephen the same honor he gave Brick and Nick.

I think it would be great if Bradley picked uniform 75 one of these years because that was Stephen’s number. 

RELATED: USA Football's Youth Football Parents 101 course, featuring Christine and Mike Golic

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York.  His son Bradley plays youth football for the Levittown Red Devils in the Nassau-Suffolk Football League on Long Island while his younger son Jared will begin playing flag football this coming fall.  Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.