ESPN video highlights Gandy-Golden’s success in football and life

Former Flames Football wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden will anticipate hearing his name called in the remainder of this weekend’s 2020 NFL Draft (April 24-25).

The 6-foot, 4-inch-tall wide receiver recorded three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (2017-19), finishing his outstanding Liberty career as the most decorated pass catcher in program history with over 3,700 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns.

On April 15, ESPN visited Liberty’s campus to film a video of Gandy-Golden to be shown during its coverage of the draft.  The video describes Gandy-Golden as an “uncut gem who does it all” — from being a master at the Rubik’s Cube, gymnastics, bowling, and painting — and reveals what drives the dominant receiver to pursue greatness.

“The thing that just drives me is life,” Gandy-Golden said in the video. “I don’t usually go into things halfway. Some things come easy to me but when I can’t do it, it kind of makes me want to do it more. There’s just something about competition that sets me on fire.”

The video aired on ESPN.com Friday morning.

In late February, the former Flame displayed his raw athleticism at the 2020 NFL Combine in Indianapolis. In front of all 32 NFL franchises, the Liberty Flame competed well, running a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and finishing first in wide receiver bench press reps with an impressive 22 reps lifting 225 pounds.

In 2019, Gandy-Golden was a part of Liberty’s first-ever bowl appearance as an FBS program, helping the Flames defeat Georgia Southern 23-16 in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla. The victory raised Liberty’s record to 8-5 on the season and launched the school into the record books as only the third team in college football history to win a bowl game in its first season of bowl eligibility. The win was led by former Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze in his first season at the helm of Liberty’s program.