Christopher Grant Brymer (November 29, 1974 – April 24, 2023) was an

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

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

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 ...

for 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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Early years

Born in

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Its population was 75,791 as of the 2020 United States census. The town is east of and adjoining to the neighboring cities of Victor ...

, he enrolled at Apple Valley High School, before transferring to the Sherman Private High School, where he graduated from in 1993. He received Blue Chip All-America, Scholastic Coach All-America honorable-mention and SuperPrep All-Far West honors. He also competed in the shot put and discus throw.

College career

Brymer accepted a football scholarship from

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. As a redshirt freshman in 1994, he started 6 of the last 7 games of the season. As a sophomore in 1995, he was suspended after being declared academically ineligible to play. He was a starter at left guard in his last two seasons and was named honorable-mention All-PAC-10.

Career

In 1998, he was signed by 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 ...

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 ...

. He was waived before the start of the season on August 30, 1998. On November 11, 1998, he was signed by the

to the

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 ...

. He was released on December 23, 1998. On February 18, 1999, he was allocated by the

to the

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. He played in 8 games at left guard. He was released by the Cowboys on September 5. He was signed to the

on September 7, where he spent the rest of the season. In February 2000, he was allocated by the

to the

for a second time. He started 9 out of 10 games, as part of an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

that allowed a league-low 23 sacks. He contributed to the team winning

World Bowl 2000 World Bowl 2000 (also referred to as World Bowl VIII) was the eighth championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at Waldstadion in Frankfurt, Germany on June 25, 2000. The match-up was between the 6–4 Scottish Claymores and the 7� ...

. He was released by the Cowboys with an injury settlement on August 21, 2000. In 2001, he played for the

Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the original version of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major ...

of the XFL. The league folded at the end of the season.

Personal life

Brymer was married to his high school girlfriend Melissa; they had a son in 2003 and separated in 2005. Melissa Brymer told ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' is an online music publication and formerly alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper ha ...

'' in 2010 that Chris, during his football career, would have angry bouts and accuse her of infidelity. He worked in the mortgage industry, before founding CMG Capital, which was a residential and commercial mortgage company. After CMG Capital folded, the Brymers lost their two homes. Melissa moved to

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

with their son, and Chris became homeless. On July 19, 2010, Brymer left a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

soup kitchen with another man, Henry Therkield, who had accosted him earlier. Brymer pulled out a 6-inch blade and became confrontational with that man and that man's friend Shaun Parker before leaving on a

MUNI Muni or Munni may refer to: Municipal * A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like *Municipal bond *Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky *"Muni", slang ...

T-line Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

train. Brymer was arrested the next day at another MUNI station. During the trial, Therkield testified that he heard Brymer threaten him but stated otherwise in an interview with ''SF Weekly''. However, Brymer was acquitted of hate crimes in November 2010. Former San Francisco district attorney

Terence Hallinan Terence Hallinan (December 4, 1936 – January 17, 2020) was an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He was the second of six sons born to Progressive Party presidential candidate Vincent Hallinan and his wife, Vivi ...

commented about acquittals like this: "Juries lose confidence in rosecutors and a hate crime doesn’t have the same clarity that it should have." He died on April 24, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brymer, Chris 1974 births Living people American football offensive guards Miami Dolphins players Dallas Cowboys players American homeless people Los Angeles Xtreme players Players of American football from San Bernardino County, California Rhein Fire players USC Trojans football players Sportspeople from Apple Valley, California