WR Martavis Bryant grateful for Cowboys opportunity after ‘dark places’ during suspension

From @ToddBrock24f7: “Still fast, still big, still want to play football,” Martavis Bryant said. But for now, he’s just happy to be on the Dallas practice squad.

Martavis Bryant is 31 now. He’s traveled a long and unexpectedly bumpy journey in those years- especially the last several- but finally walking back into an NFL facility for his first workout last weekend after a long absence, the newest Dallas Cowboy says he felt “more nervous than anything.”

He may have arrived in Frisco with jittery nerves, but it worked out. He left with a spot on an NFL practice squad.

“Nervous is always good,” he told reporters at The Star on Wednesday, “and I took advantage of the opportunity that I was given. And I’m grateful.”

Bryant, in his first media availability since being reinstated by the league and signed by the Cowboys, talked about being out of the game since 2018, suspended after a series of run-ins over the former substance abuse policy.

“I went through a lot over those last years that I didn’t play ball,” the once-promising prospect out of Clemson said. “Getting down on myself, wanting to give up on football, but at the end of the day, I had to look myself in the mirror, face my own demons, and get myself together.”

Bryant explained that he underwent a process of nearly six months of meeting different criteria just to be reinstated by the league. And that, of course, came only after Bryant did the hardest and longest work on himself.

Now on the other side, Bryant is ready to close the book on that chapter and leave it in the past.

“Places that you couldn’t even imagine, man,” he explained. “Some really dark places sometimes. I really would like to not talk about it because I worked so hard to get through those moments, but it was a dark time for me.”

Now there is at least a pathway to a much brighter place for Bryant, who credits former college teammate DeAndre Hopkins with helping him on his comeback bid. Bryant traveled to Arizona and worked out with the current Titans wideout to get himself at least closer to game readiness, but he knows things will be kicked up yet another notch when he practices with the Cowboys for the first time on Thursday.

“Got to get in football shape,” Bryant smiled. “I’m in shape, but I’ve got to get in football shape. Football shape’s a little different. I’m running, lifting every day, but I’ve got to get my wind back under me.”

If he does, the 6-foot-4-inch speedster could add a dynamic threat to the Cowboys’ passing game at some point down the 2023 stretch, turning in highlight-reel plays like he did over three seasons in Pittsburgh and another in Oakland. If it goes well on the practice squad, Bryant could find himself alongside CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks, possibly eventually pushing the struggling Michael Gallup for gameday reps.

“The sky’s the limit for me,” Bryant promised. “I know I’m 31, but I’m still fast, still big, still want to play football. I haven’t lost anything. More of a proving point to me. I’ve got a lot of doubters out there; it’s more me proving it to myself that I’ve still got it.”

 

For now, though, it starts slowly, on the Cowboys practice squad. Bryant’s jersey number, perhaps, is an indicator of the club taking things one deliberate step at a time. According to Patrik Walker of the team website, Bryant will wear No. 17, same as kicker Brandon Aubrey. If Bryant were to be elevated to the gameday roster, only then will he be assigned available digits to conform to league rules.

So it will be a process. And Bryant says he’s just fine with that.

“Whatever they need me to do. I’m the new guy here, so whatever they need, I’m going to do it. Get help from other guys, I’m really just here to learn and get better,” he told media members. “Whatever happens happens. I’m just here to give it my all on the field and just go from there. All I can do is take care of my responsibilities on the field and handle my business.”

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The Cowboys are understandably eager to see how well he can do that. They agreed to terms with Bryant without even letting him leave the building after his workout. Bryant had a workout with the Titans planned for the next day, and the Lions were also said to be interested.

For Bryant, just to have professional suitors again is a breath of fresh air.

“It feels great. So thankful for the opportunity. It’s been a long process for me, but I stayed the course. I didn’t give up on myself.”

Now Bryant’s second chance will come as the latest reclamation project by the Cowboys. The club has invested a relative pittance to find out if Bryant can deliver even a fraction of his once jaw-dropping pass-catching skills… and exactly none of the off-the-field drama that he just couldn’t seem to shake the first time around.

“I grew up a whole lot over the years. I’m older now, so how I used to carry myself off the field? I don’t do any of those things anymore.”

But the lightning-fast route running and the circus catches? Cowboys fans are hoping Bryant can still do a lot of that.

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