BC's Bryant back in NFL with Falcons

Gabriel Pruett

Matt Bryant is back in the NFL and is ready to seize this new opportunity with the Atlanta Falcons.

Bryant was up by the Falcons recently after being let go in training camp by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in training camp after the 1994 Bridge City graduate suffered a hamstring injury.

Bryant had been with the Buccaneers since the 2005-06 season.

Bryant was 11-for-14 on field goals with the Florida Tuskers under Jim Haslett this past year in the United Football League and made all his 23 extra points.

“It is always good to have a job,” Bryant said on Thursday. “There were about three or four teams that have called since being let go by the Bucs. Some would see how I was doing with the possibility of something happening soon. There are always different scenarios on why a team calls.”

The Falcons called after letting go Jason Elam who was 12-for-19 on field goals this year. Elam had been with the Falcons since the start of the 2008-09 season after spending 15 years with the Denver Broncos.

In comparison, Elam is a 80.7-percent field goal kicker while Bryant’s career average is 82.1 percent.

“Jason just had a rough year,” Bryant said. “He was not hurt that I know of and is a great guy. This is a great opportunity for me. In this league it seems the only way you get a job after being out of one is if someone gets hurt or is struggling. You don’t wish that on anyone but it seems it has to happen for you to get picked up.”

Bryant is no stranger to the Falcons.

He has made 6-of-9 field goal attempts in Atlanta since 2005. Two of the misses came in 2006 from over 40 yards out.

“I like being able to stay in the South and play in the dome,” Bryant said. “I also don’t have to worry about kickoffs this year.”

The Falcons are currently 6-5 on the year while being 5-0 at home and 1-5 on the road.

Atlanta hosts the 7-4 Philadelphia Eagles this week. The Eagles are 3-2 on the road this season. The Falcons are behind the Eagles, the 7-4 Green Bay Packers and the 6-5 New York Giants for a spot in two wild card positions.

“We are 6-5 with five games left so we need every game,” Bryant said. “It is to a point where you have to take it one game at a time.”

But of course Bryant is eyeing one game in particular.

“There is a rumor our last game of the year is in Tampa Bay,” Bryant said with a laugh. “That would be a great place to kick this team into the playoffs.”

Bryant is coming off the toughest season and year of his life after his three-month old son Matthew Tryson Bryant died last October.

Bryant was remarkable at the time, being in Groves for his child’s funeral on Saturday and kicking the eventual game-winning kick the next day against the Packers in a 30-21 Tampa Bay win. He was perfect on all his three field goal attempts that day in Tampa Bay.

“There is no way for me to answer where I found the strength to play Sunday,” Bryant said last year a few days after the emotional game. “I was drained emotionally and physically. I was literally going on fumes. It was never about me on Sunday or about me overcoming this. It was about me trying to recognize Tryson on a positive note. I wanted to acknowledge him and show him he was still with me and I am still with him.”

Now Bryant has another opportunity to make his son Matthew Bryson proud once again.

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