This winner of a 15 and The Mahomies Scholarship has been following a plan for his life and has refused to let a heart condition sidetrack him.
For Brayden Tomlinson, everything flows from his heart.
It is how he approaches life as a first-year student in the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University, and it is how he has confronted the series of heart-related medical challenges that has come his way.
For as long as he can remember, Brayden has wanted two things out of life: to be a sports broadcaster and to be a student at Texas Tech. He sees these two goals as interrelated and interdependent. One will make the other possible.
Let’s call those twin aspirations the desires of his heart.
As you might imagine, though, there is more to this story. Much more.
Brayden was born with an interrupted aortic arch, a rare heart defect (about three in every 1 million births) where the aorta does not form completely, resulting in poor blood flow throughout the body. For Brayden and his parents, this meant the future would hold numerous surgeries, anxious days and lingering questions.
When Brayden was born, the family lived in Rotan, a small community about 60 miles northwest of Abilene. Later, his dad’s coaching career would take them to Hamlin, which is located some 40 miles northwest of Abilene.
Both towns responded to the needs of the Tomlinson family, helping them face Brayden’s condition and the significant medical bills that accompanied it.
“Those small communities, they know how to rally around people,” recalled his mother, Tara. “They would bring us meals, or they would have citywide meals with the proceeds going to help us with medical expenses. Now that we’re here, the Frenship community has supported us, and our local church here in town has supported us, and we’ve just had so many people rally around us during the tough times. You really realize how hard things can be when you have a sick kid.”
Forging His Own Path
Rather than let this life-altering adversity define him, Brayden has found his own way forward in life, staying close to some sports through his work as a fledgling commentator and others, like golf, as a participant during his high school days.
“My dad comes from a coaching family, and I have always been around sports,” he says with a carefree smile. “So, I have always been drawn to them my entire life, I guess, from the moment I was born.”
Brayden said his diagnosis was the first in Lubbock of someone his age, and the initial surgery took place when he was three weeks old.
It was the beginning of a long, winding and challenging road for the Tomlinson family. There was a time when Brayden visited the cardiologist every month. For the past five years, he has checked in every six months.
“I get emotional when I talk about this,” said Tara, who serves as director of development services for the City of Wolfforth. “God picked the right child for this to happen to. This child is not going to let anything stop him. He is not going to let his size, his disability, anything, stop him once he puts his mind to it.”
His most recent surgery took place two years ago when he had his stents replaced. A few years before that, he had a new pacemaker installed, a procedure scheduled for every 12 years.
“There were times when we didn’t know if he’d make it out of surgery,” said his dad, Aaron, a teacher and coach who works with special needs students in the Frenship Independent School District. “There were times then that I would sit by his side and tell him over and over that God had a plan for him. He is just a very driven person when it comes to what he wants to do.”
While some young people who grow up in the shadow of Texas Tech want to move away from home and check out other schools, that thought barely even crossed Brayden’s mind.
He has wanted to be a Red Raider from the jump. Early experiences like Red Raider Orientation merely affirmed his plan.
A Perfect Fit at Texas Tech
“I have just met so many people over the past 13 years that I’ve lived here that I didn’t want to lose those connections by going somewhere else,” he said. “Coming here has given me a chance to get hands-on experience in what I want to do from day one.”
Some of that has to do with his dad’s coaching career. Brayden often went with his dad to games. He was a quick study who understood the rules and strategy of games. It wasn’t long before he was keeping his own statistics, once crossing paths with a Minnesota Twins scout in the stands at a Texas Tech baseball game.
And it wasn’t long before he was even offering his dad feedback on how games could have gone better.
“I remember last year coaching softball, he would get home and say, ‘Dad, you should have done this,’” Aaron said. “He was coaching off the field, I guess.”
Some of it has to do with proximity to Red Raider athletics, which Brayden can’t get enough of. He has been attending games not only as a fan, but also as a student of the Red Raider sports programs. He has become such a fixture at games that coaches and team members alike recognize him and regularly strike up conversations.
“I did a lot of media stuff while I was in high school to prepare for now,” he said. “I have helped with radio broadcasts for basketball, football, baseball and softball because sports broadcasting is the route I want to go.”
Some of it has to do with generational Texas Tech roots. Both of Brayden’s parents are Texas Tech graduates, and several other family members are proud Red Raiders as well. He also has a cousin attending who is a third-year student.
And some of it has to do with Brayden himself, who has intentionally chosen optimism where some might select despair. He sees life as something to be seized upon and lived fully.
Along those lines, his candor and confidence were two attributes that served Brayden well when he decided to apply for a scholarship from the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation. The nonprofit entity was established by former Texas Tech and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in 2019.
It is dedicated to improving the lives of young people through a series of initiatives.
“My whole family went to Texas Tech,” Brayden says with only a little bit of overstatement. “And my aunt saw something about the 15 and the Mahomies scholarships and sent it to my grandma, and she sent it to me. By that point, I was like, ‘I might as well apply for it.’”
Brayden thought he had a good chance at the scholarship because of his sports-focused background and sports-career trajectory.
“I ended up getting an email at like 11:59 at night that just said, ‘Congratulations, you’ve won,’” he said. “And I mean, that was pretty nice because all of these surgeries and stuff, they cost a lot of money, so getting that scholarship was a nice boost.”
How a Dream Came True
Brayden’s parents knew getting a scholarship was a long shot as there would be lots of competition, so they tamped down their expectations. At the same time, though, part of the application process included writing an essay outlining what applicants had overcome in life.
And did Brayden have a story to share along those lines about a little boy with big dreams who refused to be held back by a serious heart condition.
“I told him, ‘That’s your life story, child,’” Tara said. “I think it was very easy for him to write about that. So, we didn’t hear anything, and then we knew that they would announce everything publicly on a Friday morning but that they would probably let people know beforehand.”
Of course, Brayden didn’t receive the email at 11:59 that night. That is when he checked his email and discovered he had been awarded a scholarship. And seconds later, he was sharing the news with his sleeping parents.
“He woke me up, and I’m thinking, ‘You better have lost an arm or something,’” Tara joked. “But then he said he got the scholarship, and we were so excited we couldn’t go back to sleep that night. I mean, everything he has gone through in terms of medical needs, this scholarship will take away some of that financial burden. It helped so much and that has made him even more driven.”
Brayden is in his first semester as a journalism major and sports management minor. In addition to classes, intramural sports and other student-centric activities, he continues to hone his skills as a sports broadcaster as part of the team that covers Frenship athletics.
His responsibilities with the broadcast team have steadily grown in terms of providing statistical updates for the listening audience.
“I have always been impressed by Brayden’s maturity,” said Keith Patrick, director of strategic initiatives at Frenship ISD and part of the athletic broadcast production team. “He is as comfortable interacting with adults as he is with his peers. That self-assuredness and willingness to talk to people makes Brayden stand out in my mind, and I’ve also always been impressed with how candid Brayden is with his own story.
“I think a lot of Brayden and his family, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him and see him grow over the years. It’s obvious Brayden has overcome significant challenges in his life, but what I really admire more is his drive, determination and preparation to pursue his dreams and passions.”
As far as Brayden is concerned, his story is nowhere near finished. The scholarship has opened another door, just as attending Texas Tech created open doors of another sort.
Having watched their son grow up, his parents know nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.
“We have big aspirations for that kid,” Aaron said. “We know he has his own victories, and our hope is that we can help get him where he wants to be. But he is probably one of the most proactive kids about his career. I mean he practices it, and he works on it. He is 100% all in.”
Brayden wouldn’t have it any other way, which is probably why he has had a relatively seamless transition from high school to college. For him, it hasn’t been a struggle. It’s been the continuation of something special – a life story about never letting adversity have the final word.
“I feel like Frenship really prepared me for the college atmosphere,” he said. “You know, there may be more people here you don’t know, but there are more resources and opportunities as far as how Texas Tech supports you.
“One motto I try to stick with is, ‘Take heart over height.’ I heard a football player say that one time, and it’s stuck with me because even though you may not be the tallest, the best or the greatest, as long as you’ve got determination, you’re going to get there – some way, somehow.”
