Kelly Bryant (born September 25, 1996) is an American 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. 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

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

after previously playing for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

Early life

Bryant attended

Wren High School Wren High School (WHS) is a public high school in Anderson School District One in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Athletics State championships * Bask ...

Piedmont, South Carolina Piedmont is a census-designated place (CDP) along the Saluda River in Anderson County, South Carolina, Anderson and Greenville County, South Carolina, Greenville counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 5,411 at the 2020 Un ...

. As a senior, he had 3,579 passing yards with 41 passing

touchdowns 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 ...

, 720 rushing yards, and 14 rushing touchdowns. He committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

to play college football under head coach

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

. During Bryant's junior year of high school, he was unable to play in the first half of a game, as he was vomiting blood in the locker room. Bryant was taken to the hospital and after an MRI, doctors found a large abscess blocking his lower intestine. Had this abscess not been found, it may have burst, leading to a life-threatening infection in his entire body. Doctors were successfully able to remove the abscess through an emergency surgery.

College career

Clemson

Bryant spent his first two years at Clemson as a backup to

Deshaun Watson Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, leading the team to a national ...

. During the two years, he completed 13 of 19 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also had 178 rushing yards over 35 carries with three touchdowns. During this time, Clemson would win both the

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 ...

and 2016 ACC Championships, as well as the 2017 CFP National Championship. After Watson left for the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

, Bryant was named Clemson's starting quarterback to open the 2017 season. Bryant led the Tigers to the 2017 ACC Championship, and a spot in the 2017 College Football Playoff, losing to eventual national champion Alabama in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. The 2017 Clemson Tigers finished the season with a record of 12–2. On September 25, 2018, after week 4 of the 2018 season, coach

announced that freshman

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospect ...

would be the new starting quarterback for the Tigers. As a result, Bryant decided to transfer. He maintained his final year of eligibility, despite starting 4 games of his senior year, due to a recent change in NCAA redshirt guidelines. The Tigers would go on to win the 2019 CFP Championship. Due to Bryant's decision to leave the team early in the season, Swinney chose not to give Bryant a championship ring.

Missouri

On December 5, 2018, Bryant announced that he would transfer to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The following year he became a quarterback for the 2019 Missouri Tigers. In the Tigers' first game of the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, a 37–31 loss at

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, Bryant threw a career-high 423 yards.

Statistics

Professional career

Toronto Argonauts

After going undrafted in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

, Bryant had a tryout with 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 ...

on August 14, 2020. On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Bryant had signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

, where his cousin,

Martavis Bryant Martavis Alexander Bryant (born December 20, 1991) is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. Brya ...

, had signed two weeks earlier. Bryant was released on June 18, 2021. Bryant re-signed with Toronto on July 22 and assigned to practice roster. He was cut again on August 22.

Bismarck Bucks

In the one month interim between Argonauts stints, Bryant played two games for the

Bismarck Bucks The Bismarck Bucks were an indoor American football team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Bucks joined Champions Indoor Football (CIF) as an expansion team in 2016, and began play for the 2017 season. The team moved to the Indoor Football Le ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL), where he completed four out of five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, and 11 rushes for 87 yards.

FCF Zappers

On March 30, 2022, Bryant signed with the Zappers of

Fan Controlled Football Fan Controlled Football (FCF) is a dormant professional 7-on-7 Indoor American football, indoor football league that played two seasons in 2021 Fan Controlled Football season, 2021 and 2022 Fan Controlled Football season, 2022. The league operate ...

. On his debut the following day on April 1, Bryant threw for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions, whilst also rushing for an extra two touchdowns on 47 yards. Overall, he threw for 234 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions for the season with a 55% completion rating. Bryant won the FCF People's Championship later that season and was named the game's MVP.

Arlington Renegades

Bryant signed with the

Arlington Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades compete in the United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMah ...

of the XFL on April 3, 2023. Bryant played in one regular season game, recording one rushing attempt for 24 yards, and had five more rushes for 20 yards in the Renegades two playoff wins to claim the 2023 XFL championship. He was not part of the roster after the

2024 UFL dispersal draft The 2024 UFL dispersal draft was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2024 UFL season and disperse the rosters from the eight teams from its component conferences, the XFL and USFL, that were not retained i ...

on January 15, 2024.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio

Missouri Tigers bio

Clemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Kelly 1996 births Living people American football quarterbacks Clemson Tigers football players Missouri Tigers football players People from Calhoun Falls, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina Toronto Argonauts players Bismarck Bucks players Arlington Renegades players Fan Controlled Football players Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from South Carolina