Bryan McCann (born September 29, 1987) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was signed 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 ...

as an

undrafted 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 2010. 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 ...

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Early life

McCann was born in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, Oklahoma, Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in western Oklahoma, approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton metropolitan ar ...

and attended

Putnam City High School Putnam City High School (commonly, PC, Putnam City Original, and PCO) is a secondary school located in Warr Acres, Oklahoma, a northwestern suburb of metropolitan Oklahoma City, U.S.. It is one of three high schools in the Putnam City School Dis ...

, where he lettered in

, basketball and track. As a senior, he was rated as the 20th-best player in Oklahoma (Rivals.com), but broke his left leg and was only able to play in 3 games, managing to help his team finish a 10–2 season and reach the state quarterfinals. He turned down offers to play for

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, Northwestern,

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, UAB, and

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, choosing to play for

instead.

College career

McCann was an All-Freshman

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

selection, after having 38 tackles, 4 passes defensed, one interception and appearing in 11 games, starting three of the last four. He was the co-winner of the James Bradley "New Mustang" award for consistent play, along with

Emmanuel Sanders Emmanuel Niamiah Sanders (born March 17, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football wide receiver who played for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the SMU Mustangs footba ...

and Justin Willis. The next year, he started all 12 games, posting 59 tackles, 7 passes defensed and 4 interceptions, while playing at both corner and safety. As a junior, he started 11 games, registering 35 tackles, 3 interceptions, one sack and 6 punt returns for 31 yards. As a senior, he had 54 tackles, 3 interceptions and 34 kickoff returns for 824 yards.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

After going undrafted in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

, McCann 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 ...

by the

. He was released at the end of training camp.

Baltimore Ravens (first stint)

On September 5,

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 ...

, McCann was claimed off waivers by the

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

. He was cut after one game, which he was inactive for.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

McCann was re-signed to the Cowboys

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 16,

. He was promoted to the active roster on November 4,

, because of injuries to the starting

cornerbacks A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. In his second

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

game, he recorded his first career interception on November 14,

against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, picking off

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...

after

Hakeem Nicks Hakeem Amir Nicks (born January 14, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and was selected by the Ne ...

stopped short on an intended slant route. The interception was returned for a 101-yard

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 ...

. It broke the Cowboys record of 100-yards once held by Mike Gaechter. McCann’s 101-yard return was tied for the second longest in Cowboys history. He also became the second rookie in the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

era to score on a 100-plus yard interception return, the other one was

Louis Delmas Louis Delmas (; born April 12, 1987) is a Haitian-born former professional American football safety. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played college football at Western Michigan. He was also a mem ...

. For his efforts, he was named

NFC NFC usually refers to: * Near-field communication, a set of communication protocols for electronic devices * National Football Conference, part of US National Football League NFC may also refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychol ...

Defensive Player of the Week. The next game against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

on November 21, he grabbed a batted-down punt and returned it for a 97-yard

, which was the second longest punt return in franchise history; only

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner; December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one ob ...

’s 98-yard return in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

was longer. With this

McCann became the first rookie in

history to score a

of 97+ yards in consecutive weeks. For his efforts his was named

Special Teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

Player of the Week and the

Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week NFL Rookie of the Week, sponsored by Pepsi, is an award given weekly to the best performing rookie players in the National Football League (NFL). Winners are chosen among five finalists every week during the season by an online vote on NFL.com. To ...

. He was also the first player in franchise history to win Player of the Week honors in two different categories in the same season, and the first since

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he play ...

, in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, to win it in consecutive weeks. On September 20,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, because of injuries to their starting

wide receivers 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, WR gets its name from the player being spli ...

, the Cowboys waived him to re-sign Laurent Robinson.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On October 4,

, he was re-signed by the

. He was released again on November 5,

Oakland Raiders

On November 17,

, he was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

to replace an injured

Chimdi Chekwa Chimdi Chekwa (born October 7, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders i ...

. He was one of the last cuts the Raiders made before the start of the 2012 season.

Miami Dolphins

On November 6,

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 ...

, he was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. The team didn't re-sign McCann at the end of the season.

Arizona Cardinals

On April 4,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

he was signed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. He was released on September 1 and later re-signed on November 19. McCann was re-signed on March 19,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. He was cut on August 30.

Washington Redskins

McCann signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

on August 5,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. He was waived on August 31.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

References

External links

Still Truckin'
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Bryan 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Oklahoma City American football cornerbacks SMU Mustangs football players Dallas Cowboys players Baltimore Ravens players Oakland Raiders players Miami Dolphins players Arizona Cardinals players Washington Redskins players