Desmond Bryant

For the Dallas Cowboys player, see Dez Bryant.

Desmond Bryant

At a game in Denver in October, 2010
No. 90     Oakland Raiders
Defensive lineman
Personal information
Date of birth: December 15, 1985 (1985-12-15) (age 25)
Place of birth: Shorewood, Illinois
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Weight: 290 lb (132 kg)
Career information
College: Harvard
Undrafted in 2009
Debuted in 2009 for the Oakland Raiders
Career history
Oakland Raiders (2009–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2010
Tackles	53
Sacks	2.5
Interceptions	0
Forced Fumbles	1
Stats at NFL.com

Desmond J. Bryant (born December 15, 1985)^[1] is an American football defensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Harvard.

Early life and college career

Bryant was born in Shorewood, Illinois to Alton and Lillian Bryant. He graduated from East Bladen High School at Elizabethtown, North Carolina in 2004. In his senior season, Bryant helped his high school football team to a 13-1 record. That was his only year playing high school football in North Carolina; Bryant played football and basketball for three years while attending high school in Middletown, Delaware and played for the East Bladen basketball team for two seasons. With a weighted 4.2 grade point average and 1230 SAT score, Bryant chose Harvard despite offers by Duke, Florida A&M, and Towson State. As Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, Bryant received an academic scholarship.^[2] Harvard coach Tim Murphy thought that Bryant could be a four-year starter and potentially a professional player and compared Bryant to a Southeastern Conference player.^[3] At Harvard, Bryant majored in economics and played 32 games in four seasons. In his senior season, Bryant was named second team All-Ivy League after leading Harvard with eight quarterback hurries and 4.5 tackles leading to losses.^[4]

Reflecting on his college years, Bryant told the Los Angeles Times: "The Ivy League's not really my type of environment. I had some really good teammates and friends, but outside of the football world I didn't interact much with the other kids."^[3]

NFL career

Bryant is the 29th Harvard Crimson football player to play in the NFL.^[3] In April 2009, Bryant signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders.^[5] Bryant played all 16 games of his rookie season and had 24 solo and 8 assisted tackles. The next season, Bryant made 1.5 sacks.^[4]

References

1. ^ "#90 Desmond Bryant | DT". ESPN. http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/playerinfo?playerId=12949. Retrieved December 30, 2010. 
2. ^ Burney, Buddy (February 6, 2004). "Desmond Bryant headed to Harvard University". The Bladen Journal. http://www.bladenjournal.com/view/full_story/1220870/article-Desmond-Bryant-headed. Retrieved December 30, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Wharton, David (October 3, 2009). "Desmond Bryant is smarter than the average Raider". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/print/2009/oct/03/sports/sp-desmond-bryant3. Retrieved December 30, 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "#90 Desmond Bryant". Oakland Raiders. http://www.raiders.com/team/roster/Desmond-Bryant/37d7a7ae-fff9-4b50-9373-7aaeb0355903. Retrieved December 30, 2010. 
5. ^ "Bryant Signs Free Agent Deal With Oakland Raiders". Harvard Crimson. http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2008-09/releases/20090427_fbbryantraiders. Retrieved December 30, 2010. 

External links

• Oakland Raiders bio