Tony Bryant (born September 3, 1976) is a former

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 with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who played for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

(1999–2002) and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(2003–2005) in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was born and raised in Marathon, Florida.

High school

He attended Marathon High School and played for the Marathon Dolphin football team where he received many of awards including Best All-Around Athlete, All American Defensive End, First-team All State, Monroe County Player of the Year, and All County Team. Tony was honored at Marathon High School on October 31, 2008 when his jersey number 45 was retired.

College

Bryant attended Copiah-Lincoln Community College for two years. While there he earned his

Associate of Arts degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

Child Development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

. He also played football and earned honors including being named an All-American Defensive End and NJCAA Most Valuable Player. He was also the No.6 Junior College Prospect, and Top Junior College Player. After attending Copian Lincoln Junior College he went on to attend

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. There he recorded 14 career sacks and 87 tackles. He was also named to the All-ACC 2nd team.

Professional career

He was picked with the ninth pick in the second round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

by the

. He played for the Raiders from 1999-2002. There he recorded 92 solo tackles, 35 assists, 17 sacks, and 1 safety. He was also part of the Raiders

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

season in 2002. In 2003, he signed with the

, and played there until 2005. After the Saints he went to the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

in 2006.

References

1976 births Living people People from Marathon, Florida American football defensive ends Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack football players Florida State Seminoles football players Oakland Raiders players New Orleans Saints players {{defensive-lineman-1970s-stub