Antonio Bryant (born March 9, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors and winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award. Bryant was picked by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the second round of the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

, and he also played professionally for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Bryant was born in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and graduated from Miami Northwestern High School, where he was a standout

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

player for the Bulls. He was selected as a team captain in three straight years and helped lead his team as a senior to a Class 6A state title and an undefeated record (16–0).

College career

Bryant attended the University of Pittsburgh, and played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers football The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the College athletics, intercollegiate American football, football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at ...

team from 1999 to 2001. He was a first-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

selection in 2000 and 2001, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2000. He also won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season's outstanding college football receiver in 2000; he was the second sophomore to win the award (after Randy Moss). He declared for the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

after his junior year, leaving as the conference's record holder for regular-season touchdowns (26) and 100-yard receiving games (13).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Bryant was selected by the

in the second round (63rd overall) of the

, after dropping because of character concerns. He was given number 88 with the expectation of developing into a great player and was the first rookie

to start in a season opener since Michael Irvin. At the time, his 44 receptions ranked third, his 733 receiving yards ranked fourth and his 6

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

receptions ranked second all-time for a Cowboys rookie in a season. On October 13, he had his signature moment against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

on a 4th and 14, last minute game-winning acrobatic

reception from quarterback Quincy Carter. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, he was moved to third receiver after Terry Glenn was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, the arrival of

Keyshawn Johnson started to affect his attitude. During a mini-camp practice after being unsatisfied with the number of reps he had, he started cursing and threw his jersey aiming at

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells ( ; born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He came to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 19 ...

head, before the team broke up the fight. Although Parcells gave him a second chance, tensions kept escalating from that point forward. He was eventually traded to the

after the fifth game of the season, in exchange for

Quincy Morgan, who also had issues with his team.

Cleveland Browns

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he had his best season up to that point, leading the team in catches (69), receiving yards (1,009 yards) and touchdowns (four). He became a free agent at the end of the year.

San Francisco 49ers

Bryant signed as a free agent with the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. On December 22, 2006, he was suspended four games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. On March 1,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he was released one year after he signed a four-year, $14 million contract.

Free agency

On September 17,

, Bryant was reinstated by the league, but was not able to sign with a team, partly because of a failed drug test over the summer. In October, he filed a lawsuit against the NFL to try to get them to stop drug testing him since he was not a player at the time, and to drop the failed drug test. In December, the case was resolved without the details being released.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After not playing the previous year, on March 10,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Bryant signed a deal for the veteran minimum with the

. He had a career game against the

, finishing with 9 receptions for 200 yards, including a one-handed touchdown catch dubbed "catch of the year". Despite his performance, the Buccaneers lost 38–23. Bryant finished his best season as a pro with 83 catches for 1,248 yards and 7 touchdowns while averaging 15 yards per catch. He became the team's leading receiver and the second player in franchise history to record three or more consecutive 100-yard receiving games. On February 18,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he was given the

franchise tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...

by the Buccaneers. On February 25,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he was waived after a somewhat disappointing and injury-plagued season.

Cincinnati Bengals

After finishing an injury-plagued season and coming off surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee, the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

signed Bryant on March 10,

, to a four-year contract worth a reported $28 million, along with multiple incentives. After the Bengals signed Terrell Owens, Bryant gave up his No. 81 jersey for Owens, who had worn the number his entire career. In return for the number, Bryant requested Owens make a donation to his charity and wore jersey No. 19 instead. After struggling in practices and not being able to play in any of the pre-season games because of problems with his left knee, the Bengals released him on August 29.

Seattle Seahawks

On June 12,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Bryant worked out for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

by attending their three-day mini-camp and took a physical for the team as well. On June 15, 2012, it was reported that he finished all three of the minicamp practices, indicating that his chronic knee injury had healed. After being out of football for two years, Bryant signed with the Seahawks on July 26. His stay with the team was short lived, as he was released on August 5.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Antonio 1981 births Living people All-American college football players American football wide receivers Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Players of American football from Miami San Francisco 49ers players Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Cincinnati Bengals players Seattle Seahawks players