James Bryant (born December 18, 1985) is an

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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is currently 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 ...

. He was signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

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 2009. He played college football at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Early life and education

Bryant played for

Reading Senior High School Reading Senior High School, colloquially known as The Castle on The Hill, is a 9–12 public high school in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1927 and is part of the Reading School District. It is the largest traditional high school ...

in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he rushed for 984 yards as a running back and had 314 tackles on the defense. He also had 18 sacks, five interceptions, and nin fumble recoveries in his high school career.

College career

Bryant played three seasons at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

and appeared in 32 games primarily on offense as a backup fullback from 2004 to 2007. Bryant later transferred to

, where he sat out one year. During his final year of eligibility in 2008, James appeared in 10 games for the Louisville, recording 100 tackles, two interceptions, one punt return for 26 yards, one blocked punt, and recording 17 tackles for loss.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Bryant was signed by the

as an

following the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

. He participated in the mini camp and was released.

Boxing

After he was released by the Redskins, Bryant tried professional boxing for a while. He appeared as a heavyweight in 5 boxing matches and has a 4–1 record with 4 knockouts. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound pure puncher is 2–0, both wins by first-round knockouts in scheduled four-rounders. His next bout is June 15 on the Tuesday Night Fights Live card at the Hard Rock Live. Bryant won his Feb 16 debut over 244-pound Roy Boykins at the 2-minute mark and his second fight on April 13 over Andrew Maxwell at the 2:19 mark.

Orlando Predators

Bryant signed with the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

in 2010 as a defensive end and played three games. In those three games Bryant recorded four sacks, forced 9 interceptions and one kickoff return for a touchdown.

BC Lions

Bryant played for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

during the 2011 season. He was signed in May and was released in October 25. He did not record any offensive or defensive statistics.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions signed Bryant as a free agent on March 16, 2012. Bryant was released on August 27, 2012, as a part of Lions' last round of cut prior to the 2012 season.

New Orleans VooDoo

Bryant played the 2013 season with the New Orleans VooDoo of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Pittsburgh Power

Bryant was assigned to the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference (AC) in the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2011, the Power ...

on October 10, 2013.

Cleveland Gladiators

Bryant was assigned to the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

on May 7, 2015.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioFB James Bryant simply wants to open up holes for Lions' tailbacksCFL bioBoxRechurricanesportsjrosports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, James 1985 births Living people American football fullbacks Miami Hurricanes football players Louisville Cardinals football players Orlando Predators players Detroit Lions players New Orleans VooDoo players Pittsburgh Power players Cleveland Gladiators players