American football player
 Bryant playing for Clemson in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | (1996-09-25) September 25, 1996 (age 28) Lowndesville, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Wren (Piedmont, South Carolina) |
| College: | Clemson (2015–2018) Missouri (2019) |
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Undrafted: | 2020 |
| Career history | |
| |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at CFL.ca | |
Kelly Bryant (born September 25, 1996) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Missouri Tigers after previously playing for the Clemson Tigers.
Early life
Bryant attended Wren High School in Piedmont, South Carolina. As a senior, he had 3,579 passing yards with 41 passing touchdowns, 720 rushing yards, and 14 rushing touchdowns. He committed to Clemson University to play college football under head coach Dabo Swinney. During Bryant's junior year of high school, he was unable to play in the first half of a game, as he was vomiting blood in the locker room. Bryant was taken to the hospital and after an MRI, doctors found a large abscess blocking his lower intestine. Had this abscess not been found, it may have burst, leading to a life-threatening infection in his entire body. Doctors were successfully able to remove the abscess through an emergency surgery.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly Bryant QB |
Piedmont, SC | Wren HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 204 lb (93 kg) | Apr 17, 2014 | |
Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 11 (Dual-threat QB) ESPN: 10 (Dual-threat QB) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
Clemson
Bryant spent his first two years at Clemson as a backup to Deshaun Watson. During the two years, he completed 13 of 19 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also had 178 rushing yards over 35 carries with three touchdowns. During this time, Clemson would win both the 2015 and 2016 ACC Championships, as well as the 2017 CFP National Championship.
After Watson left for the 2017 NFL draft, Bryant was named Clemson's starting quarterback to open the 2017 season. Bryant led the Tigers to the 2017 ACC Championship, and a spot in the 2017 College Football Playoff, losing to eventual national champion Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The 2017 Clemson Tigers finished the season with a record of 12–2.
On September 25, 2018, after week 4 of the 2018 season, coach Dabo Swinney announced that freshman Trevor Lawrence would be the new starting quarterback for the Tigers. As a result, Bryant decided to transfer. He maintained his final year of eligibility, despite starting 4 games of his senior year, due to a recent change in NCAA redshirt guidelines. The Tigers would go on to win the 2019 CFP Championship. Due to Bryant's decision to leave the team early in the season, Swinney chose not to give Bryant a championship ring.
Missouri
On December 5, 2018, Bryant announced that he would transfer to Missouri. The following year he became a quarterback for the 2019 Missouri Tigers. In the Tigers' first game of the 2019 season, a 37–31 loss at Wyoming, Bryant threw a career-high 423 yards.
Statistics
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | INT | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Clemson Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 8 | 0 | — | 7 | 9 | 77.8 | 27 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 80.8 | 23 | 156 | 6.8 | 2 |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | — | 6 | 9 | 66.7 | 48 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 148.1 | 12 | 22 | 1.8 | 1 |
| 2017 | 14 | 14 | 12–2 | 262 | 398 | 65.8 | 2,802 | 7.0 | 13 | 8 | 131.7 | 192 | 665 | 3.5 | 11 |
| 2018 | 4 | 4 | 4–0 | 36 | 54 | 66.7 | 461 | 8.5 | 2 | 1 | 146.9 | 33 | 130 | 4.3 | 2 |
| Missouri Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 10 | 10 | 5–5 | 181 | 292 | 62.0 | 2,215 | 7.6 | 15 | 6 | 138.5 | 106 | 242 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Career | 40 | 28 | 21–7 | 492 | 762 | 62.0 | 5,553 | 7.3 | 31 | 16 | 135.0 | 363 | 1,215 | 3.3 | 17 |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+1⁄8 in (1.91 m) |
229 lb (104 kg) |
32+1⁄4 in (0.82 m) |
9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) |
4.69 s | 1.59 s | 2.73 s | 4.51 s | 7.33 s | 35.0 in (0.89 m) |
10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) | ||
| All values from NFL Combine | ||||||||||||
Toronto Argonauts
After going undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft, Bryant had a tryout with the Arizona Cardinals on August 14, 2020. On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Bryant had signed with the Toronto Argonauts, where his cousin, Martavis Bryant, had signed two weeks earlier. Bryant was released on June 18, 2021. Bryant re-signed with Toronto on July 22 and assigned to practice roster. He was cut again on August 22.
Bismarck Bucks
In the one month interim between Argonauts stints, Bryant played two games for the Bismarck Bucks of the Indoor Football League (IFL), where he completed four out of five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, and 11 rushes for 87 yards.
FCF Zappers
On March 30, 2022, Bryant signed with the Zappers of Fan Controlled Football. On his debut the following day on April 1, Bryant threw for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions, whilst also rushing for an extra two touchdowns on 47 yards. Overall, he threw for 234 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions for the season with a 55% completion rating. Bryant won the FCF People's Championship later that season and was named the game's MVP.
Arlington Renegades
Bryant signed with the Arlington Renegades of the XFL on April 3, 2023. Bryant played in one regular season game, recording one rushing attempt for 24 yards, and had five more rushes for 20 yards in the Renegades two playoff wins to claim the 2023 XFL championship. He was not part of the roster after the 2024 UFL dispersal draft on January 15, 2024.
References
- Robinson, Manie (April 17, 2014). "Wren quarterback Bryant commits to Tigers". The Greenville News. Gannett. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Schlabach, Mark (November 2, 2017). "Replacing Deshaun Watson is nothing compared to what Clemson QB Kelly Bryant endured". ESPN. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- Keepfer, Scott (October 28, 2015). "Freshman Kelly Bryant moving up Clemson's QB depth chart". The State. McClatchy. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Connolly, Matt (August 21, 2017). "Kelly Bryant named Clemson's starting QB". The State. McClatchy. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Adelson, Andrea (August 21, 2017). "Kelly Bryant will start at QB for Clemson to open season". ESPN. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Connolly, Matt (August 22, 2017). "Bryant won't get complacent after winning starting QB job". The State. McClatchy. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Cooper, Sam (September 24, 2018). "Clemson makes change, names Trevor Lawrence starting quarterback". Yahoo Sports. Verizon Media. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- Robinson, Manie (September 26, 2018). "In exclusive interview, Clemson football QB Kelly Bryant says he will transfer". The Greenville News. Gannett. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Fonrelli, Tom (August 8, 2019). "Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has a simple answer for not giving Kelly Bryant a national championship ring". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- Frederickson, Ben (August 9, 2019). "BenFred: Everything you (don't) need to know about the Dabo Swinney-Kelly Bryant ring debate". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- Hale, David M. (December 5, 2018). "Ex-Clemson QB Kelly Bryant says he's transferring to Missouri". ESPN. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- Associated Press (August 30, 2019). "Missouri debuts new QB Bryant on road against Wyoming". Detroit Free Press. Gannett. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- Schiffer, Alex (August 31, 2019). "Inside Kelly Bryant's first start for Missouri ... a game that ended with a loss". Kansas City Star. McClatchy. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- "Kelly Bryant Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- "2020 NFL Draft Scout Kelly Bryant College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- @AlbertBreer (August 14, 2020). "Today's tryouts and visits ..." (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
- "Argos add Signal-Caller Kelly Bryant". Toronto Argonauts. February 9, 2021.
- Toronto Argonauts Media Relations (June 18, 2021). "The Argos also announce today the release of the following players: American WR Jawill Davis, American QB Kelly Bryant and American DB Ermon Lane" (Tweet). Retrieved June 21, 2021 – via Twitter.
- "Argos sign ex-Clemson star Bryant". TSN.ca. July 22, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- "Football vs Massachusetts Pirates on 7/10/2021 - Box Score".
- "Football vs Frisco Fighters on 7/16/2021 - Box Score".
- "Fan Controlled Football is where FANS call the shots". FCF. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- Crumpton, Tony (April 3, 2023). "Former Clemson quarterback signs with XFL". TigerNet.com. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- "2024 UFL Team Rosters". TheUFL.com. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
External links
| Clemson Tigers starting quarterbacks | |
|---|---|
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| Missouri Tigers starting quarterbacks | |
|---|---|
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- 1996 births
- Living people
- American football quarterbacks
- Clemson Tigers football players
- Missouri Tigers football players
- People from Calhoun Falls, South Carolina
- Players of American football from South Carolina
- Toronto Argonauts players
- Bismarck Bucks players
- Arlington Renegades players
- Fan Controlled Football players
- Canadian football quarterbacks
- Players of Canadian football from South Carolina