Martavis Bryant Scores Touchdown After Six Years
By Arabia Tillery | August 26, 2024 | 2:49 PM ET
(Washington, DC) - Martavis Bryant played for the Oakland Raiders when he last played in an NFL game. The Chargers beat the Raiders 20-6 on November 11, 2018 in Oakland. Bryant had 3 receptions on 3 targets for 17 yards. That 2018 season, he played 8 games and logged 266 yards, averaging 14 yards per receptions.
Six years later, Bryant scored a touchdown in the Commanders final preseason game versus the Patriots Sunday night. Late in the 4th quarter, the WR caught a pass from Trace McSorley to help Washington win 20-10 at home. Although he is a late addition to training camp this year, he is no stranger to the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Martavis Bryant fourth round (118th overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft. He played for the Steelers in 2014, 2015 and 2017 before playing with the Raiders in 2018.
WR Martavis Bryant during Commanders practice | August 2024
His absence from the NFL is largely due to violating the league's substance-abuse policy, leading to multiple suspensions and missed games. The 32-year-old was signed to the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts (2021) and the Edmonton Elks (2022), the Indoor Football League's Massachusetts Pirates (2021), the Fan Controlled Football League's FCF Beasts (2022), and the XFL's Vegas Vipers (2023).
Bryant was one of eight players suspended from the CFL allegedly due to passport issues as the USA-Canadian border worked through issues after the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, he did not report to training camp, never played for the Argonauts, and after the season was released on December 23, 2021. He was signed to the Edmonton Elks for about 2 months (February 28, 2022 to May 3, 2022) before his released before training camp began. After his 2023 season with the Vegas Vipers, Bryant was released to allow him to sign with an NFL team. The Dallas Cowboys signed the WR to their practice squad on November 7, 2023. Two months later he was released. One week later he signed a reserve/future contract with the Cowboys. May 8, 2024, Dallas released him.
Although Martavis Bryant's journey has twists and turns, Commanders Head Coach Dan Quinn is proud of Bryant, appreciates his journey and is excited to see what is to come.
"It's not easy to get jumped down and put in the middle of an offense or a defense and learning it," coach Dan Quinn stated. "So for him to come in and spend the time with [Wide Receivers Coach] Bobby Engram who, if you were somebody to come learn from, he's the one you'd wanna pick. And so I was just really proud of him at the end. There was a [pass interference] that went his way, a touchdown at the end, so I was very excited for him."
Coach Quinn went on to say, "I think as a ball player and a teammate you really have appreciation for somebody's journey. Maybe even if you might not have been a part of that. But you recognize it when things don't always go the way you'd hoped it would. So, for someone like him to stay with it, that shows a lot of grit where it would've been real easy just to walk away and not be able to do it. I had a chance to coach him some last year and I was impressed. I didn't forget. So, would he make the most of that opportunity? I felt that energy from him. I think it's probably a combination of he's a good teammate as a new guy here, but there's also some appreciation for a story that shows some real resilience and some fight which these guys certainly appreciate.”
Making the cut in Washington's wide receiver room is not an easy task. Ahead of the final 53-man roster, anticipated WR to make the final roster are Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown, Luke McCaffrey, Byron Pringle and Jamison Crowder. Also looking for WR roster spots are Olamide Zaccheaus and now, Martavis Bryant. Final rosters are due in a little over 24-hours.
