Different. Electric. Interesting. Mysterious.
These are all words that have been used to describe the one and only Bradley “The Hammer” Kammer. Over the years he has borne many names: Hammer, No-brick Brad, Darius, and others. Out of all of these, Hammer stuck, and it is how everyone knows him now.
Legend has it, his football coach in fourth grade gave him this title because he had never seen someone hit so hard at any level of ball.
Kammer comes from the heart of the west side of Cincinnati, attending Our Lady of Visitation. The son of Bill and Patty Kammer is one of the hardest working and lighthearted people you will ever meet. It’s really no wonder he’s legendary with the ladies. Among the myths and stories of The Hammer, he once had four new year’s kisses. “Perfection.”
Olivia S. used one word to describe Kammer as well as sharing, “I hope the whole world knows that Bradley Kammer is an angel from heaven.” Another girl, Carmen M. said Bradley is, “Perfect, Bubbly, and Handy.” Among others, these have been two ladies that openly obsess over The Hammer.
Others described him as awesome and funny, one of those women being Kait J. Over the years Kait has been the nail to Brad’s hammer, the wall to his lack of bricks, and the shower for his Darius. But when I recently asked Kait about Bradley she told me, “This is not a good time to ask me. We are not together.”
Unfortunately for Kammer, things never seem to work out between the two of them and nobody can truly see why. As I pushed harder to get an answer, she said, “He’s cool. He’s always cool.” Opposed to the wishes of his admirers, he has only ever seemed interested in this one.
A guy like Kammer could have any girl, but he chooses not to. He spends his days working on himself, and he gave me his daily routine, “I wake up and p*** excellence. Then I go to school and get good grades only. When school’s over, I go ball out on either the baseball diamond or in the Pit.” Kammer sets a high standard for himself, and he performs at the highest level in every facet of life.
This leads to the question, What does it take to be The Hammer?
“It takes a lot, honestly,” Kammer explained, “It’s rough sometimes with everyone coming up to me and saying hi; it can make my vocal chords hurt. And to be honest with you, my hand hurts from giving everyone high fives.”
I asked The Hammer how is able to “ball out” so easily day in and day out in his respective sports. “Physically, it’s not hard. I am an absolute specimen. I don’t really even need to workout to maintain my strength because I’m just so natural.”
Kammer is a well known character among the halls of Elder, and if anyone doesn’t know him you can catch students asking, “Who’s Bradley Kammer?”, or “Who’s The Hammer?”.
But the question is always who is Hammer, and never how is Hammer, so I had to ask.
“I’m living life one breath at a time. Stopping around and looking at life, one step at a time. I’m going on adventures with my friends and genuinely having a good time.”
Kammer’s unrelenting good feelings and positive outlook on life rub off on the ones around him. Close friend to Kammer, Jackson Ruth tells me, “Whenever I hang out with The Hammer he always brings the juice. He’s just a great guy to be around and everyone always enjoys his company. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like The Hammer or has a problem with him.”
As many of us do, The Hammer has dreams and aspirations too. I wanted to know what Kammer wanted for his legacy, “I want to be known as everyone’s friend. I want everyone to like me and enjoy being around me. I want people in 20 years to be like, ‘Hey, I wonder what The Hammer is doing right now.’ and I feel like I’m doing all the right things in order for that to happen.”
Kammer is charismatic, funny, strange, friendly, and much more. There are lots of words that are used to describe Bradley Kammer, but what’s the one word he uses to describe himself?
“Hammer.”
