Bradley, Nikki Bozeman Planning Offseason Anti-Bullying RV Trip

Life in a fifth wheel is much like a band on a tour bus, with close quarters and not much space to move around.

That experience is much different with two athletes living in it, like Ravens left guard Bradley Bozeman and his wife, Nikki, a former basketball player at the University of Alabama. Yeah, the living situation might not be the most comfortable and spacious, but the two make it work.

“I think we had the idea last December. We went out and bought a fifth wheel,” Bradley said on Glenn Clark Radio Nov. 11.

However, it wasn’t as easy as that. Nikki wasn’t immediately on board with the idea, but after some conversations, she was convinced, so the two made the decision.

“He goes ‘Hey, I have this idea,’ and I’m like, ‘No chance, no shot, absolutely not,” Nikki said. “But then we went and looked at these fifth wheels. We have granite countertops. We have wood floors. We have two bedrooms.”

It definitely is not the same as living in an apartment or a house, but the amenities inside made the fifth wheel feel more like a home than some of the previous places the couple lived.

“It’s a little different,” Bradley said. “It’s not Cousin Eddie’s fifth wheel.”

Already used to the fifth-wheel lifestyle, the Bozemans plan to travel the country — to about 30 states — after the 2019 NFL season as part of the Bradley and Nikki Bozeman Foundation’s anti-bullying initiative in schools.

It’s tough to start planning now, though the hope is that the tour begins after the Ravens win their third championship in franchise history in February 2020, but the planning process has already begun.

As for the schools, they will likely be near campgrounds in different states, places that would be easy to travel to with their mode of transportation.

“Our sweet spot that we talked to is middle schools, so we’ll go talk to pretty much the whole middle school in an assembly,” Nikki said. “We just go tell our story. We listen to their story.”

The couple usually goes on Monday during the season to different schools in the area. Nikki said the experience is “eye-opening for everyone there” about “how much kids open up and that they want to open up.”

“One of the biggest things that kids tell us all the time is they didn’t realize this happens to so many other people,” Nikki said. “When we open up the room for kids to talk, they look around and they’re like ‘Holy cow, this is happening to my classmates.’ It’s probably more of the norm where the whole auditorium is in tears than not the norm.”

The message with these visits is that “you’re not alone,” and the Bozemans will be starting their nationwide journey to spread this message in a few months’ time.

For more information about the trip, visit bradnikkibozeman.com for details. Click on the “Donate Now” link to help make it happen.

For more from the Bozemans, listen to the full interview here:

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Bradley and Nikki Bozeman