Brandon Ladarius Bryant (born December 21, 1995) is a former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Mississippi State.

High school career

Bryant attended

Rosa Fort High School Rosa Fort High School (RFHS) is a senior high school in unincorporated Tunica County, Mississippi, adjacent to the North Tunica CDP, and near Tunica. It is a part of the Tunica County School District. History After the rise of the gambling indus ...

in Tunica, Mississippi, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and safety. Bryant was rated as a three-star recruit by ''247sports.com'', ''Rivals.com'', ''Scout.com'', and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. He committed to Mississippi State on November 4, 2013.

College career

Freshman season (2015)

After sitting out the 2014 season as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

, Bryant saw action in all 13 games in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, starting in eight of them. Bryant was a backup safety for the first five games of the season before taking over starting duties in a 45-17 win over

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, a game where he forced a fumble on Troy's first drive. The following week against Louisiana Tech, Bryant recorded his first collegiate

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

and returned it for a touchdown and also recovered a blocked punt. Later that season, on an SEC Network broadcast, Tim Tebow named Bryant the "Freak of Week," citing Bryant's ability to run a

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

in 4.24 seconds and to

deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

600 pounds. Bryant caught another interception in a loss to Alabama.

Sophomore season (2016)

Bryant was named by ''

The Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

'' as the Bulldogs' second-most important player in 2016. He was called the "top playmaker" on the team and the backbone of the Bulldog defense. Bryant had an interception against Samford.

Junior season (2017)

Bryant again played in all 13 games in the Bulldogs' 2017 season, bringing down an interception against in a win over

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

Professional career

New York Jets

After failing to be drafted in the 2018 supplemental NFL draft, Bryant signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

as an undrafted free agent on July 16, 2018. He was waived on September 1, 2018 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 29, 2018. He was waived/injured on August 29, 2019, and placed on the team's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

list the next day. He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 10.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Bryant signed with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the CFL on April 16, 2020. He retired from football on June 28, 2021.

References

External links

Mississippi State Bulldogs football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Brandon 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Mississippi American football defensive backs People from Tunica, Mississippi Sportspeople from the Memphis metropolitan area African-American players of American football Mississippi State Bulldogs football players New York Jets players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players 21st-century African-American sportspeople