Maryland Love Connection: Bradley & Candice Johnson
Sam Payer, Maryland Media Relations
2/12/2021
When asked about life with her husband Bradley, Candice Johnson (formerly Beards) described the two as vines with separate roots that suddenly connected and twisted together. Maryland athletics was that connection.
The two, Bradley, a 2014 football graduate, and Candice, a 2014 softball graduate, met at Maryland as underclassmen in 2011, and now, 10 years later, have been together ever since.
“When I first met him he always had the same demeanor. He was just calm, cool, and collected and I think that's what attracted me to him,” said Candice. “We are complete opposites but that's the balance that we have. He's the one that brings me back into the moment.”
The story goes that the two met at a party, but they jokingly say that the location is just about the only detail of that night they agree on.
“Bradley and I talk about this all the time because I feel like we have different stories,” said Candice. “He said that we met through mutual friends. As time goes on, I now think that might be how it happened, but I'm more extra. I'll turn something into a whole fairy tale.”
Candice claims that she pretended Bradley was her boyfriend to get out of a conversation with someone else.
“My version is that I faked that he was my boyfriend,” recalled Candice. “I was trying to get someone to take their attention off of me and he was just like fine.”
That next day they exchanged phone numbers and started hanging out more. The friendship progressed into a relationship and a relationship into a marriage. Despite the discrepancy on how it happened, both agree that the attraction happened immediately.”
“The first thing I noticed about Candice was her smile,” said Bradley. “I think it's the first thing everyone notices about her. She should put a copyright on that. She’s always smiling.”
“I thought it was love at first sight, I was so infatuated with Bradley,” said Candice.
The pair said Maryland athletics affected their relationship in the best way possible, and that being with someone who had similar goals and a similar work ethic and determination was the thing that held them together no matter what.
“Bradley and I were both student-athletes, we've both had conditioning days, and we've both gone through injury,” said Candice. “We went through so much together that we can relish that time and relish the strength that we had to overcome those days. That's what we take into our marriage every day.”
“I think Maryland athletics has given us the drive to be where we want to be in life,” said Bradley. “It made us competitive together, we are always motivated and on the same page to get to where we want to be.”
Candice, a 2014 All-ACC selection, played softball at Maryland from 2011-14, playing a key role in leading the Terps to NCAA Tournament berths in 2011 & 2012. Beards played in 202 career games with 171 starts as a first baseman for the Terps, finishing her career atop the Maryland record books, ranking fourth in Maryland history in walks (84), fifth in RBIs (110), seventh in triples (five) and ninth in doubles (35) at the time of graduation.
Bradley was a linebacker for Maryland football from 2010-13, playing in 31 games over four years for the Terps, tallying 20 tackles (nine solo), a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
The two got married only two years after graduation in 2016 in a wedding full of Candice’s softball teammates and Bradley’s football teammates.
And now, after almost 10 years together and five years of marriage, Candice and Bradley have a two-year-old daughter Camryn with another little Johnson, Bradley Jr., on the way any day now. The family lives in North Carolina with Candice working as an academic counselor at Johnson and Wales and Bradley as a supervisor at UPS.
“If someone was to ask me where we would be in 10 years, I would have never thought we were going to be welcoming our second child,” said Candice. “I look back at pictures of us in college and think, 'Oh my gosh we've grown so much together.' He’s my best friend and Maryland is what did that. I can't imagine life without him.
“And one thing is for sure, we will always be proud Terps.”
