Bryan McCann (born September 29, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

. 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2010. He played college football at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

Early years

McCann was born in

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

and attended Putnam City High School, where he lettered in football, 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 (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, Northwestern, Texas Tech,

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, UAB, and

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

, choosing to play for

instead.

College career

McCann was an All-Freshman

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

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 a former American football wide receiver who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at SMU, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third ...

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 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

, McCann was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. He was released at the end of training camp.

Baltimore Ravens (First stint)

On September 5,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, McCann was claimed off waivers by the

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

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

Dallas Cowboys (Second stint)

McCann was re-signed to the Cowboys practice squad 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 receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnov ...

. In his second

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

, picking off

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

after

Hakeem Nicks Hakeem Amir Nicks (born January 14, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at North Carolina, and was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Nicks has also played for t ...

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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. It broke the Cowboys record of 100-yards once held by

Mike Gaechter Michael Theodore Gaechter (January 9, 1940 – August 17, 2015) was an American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Oregon. Early years Born in Santa Mo ...

. McCann’s 101-yard return was tied for the second longest in Cowboys history. He also became the second rookie in the Super Bowl era to score on a 100-plus yard interception return, the other one was

Louis Delmas Louis Delmas (; born April 12, 1987) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Western Michigan. He was also a member of the Miami Dolphins. ...

. For his efforts, he was named NFC 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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

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 President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

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 NFC

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 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week is an award given to the best performi