Former NFL defensive lineman Desmond Bryant’s mug shot from his 2013 arrest for a misdemeanor remains infamous.
Bryant was arrested in Miami on Feb. 24, 2013, on a charge of criminal mischief. It was the mug shot people remember most. He allegedly entered a neighbor’s house inebriated and caused a commotion, according to a report, just after signing with the Cleveland Browns.
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“I obviously made a mistake,” Bryant told Browns beat reporters in his introductory news conference. “I apologize for everything that happened, but I feel like I’ve learned from it and moved on from that. I think I’ve done enough over the years I’ve been in the league to exhibit that’s really not the kind of person I am.
“I think in time, I’ll be able to show you guys and whoever else wants to know that’s really not indicative of me. It was a mistake. It was an accident. I’ve moved beyond that and hopefully everybody else will be able to.”
The time has apparently come for Bryant to show who he is. The former ex-defensive end, who was with the Browns from 2013-15 before leaving the league, was the subject of a “CBS Mornings” feature where he said he’s been able to stay sober due to fatherhood and yoga and addressed his evolution, including that infamous mug shot.
“I thought that sticking my tongue out was a good idea,” he told reporter David Bergnaud. “I came out of jail the next morning and not only was my mug shot all over, photoshops of me had already begun memes, were already starting to trend.”
After several injuries, the Browns eventually voided the final two years of his $34 million contract, and he’s been out of football since. Losing football sent him into a spiral where he also used cocaine. He said he experienced a spiritual epiphany when practicing yoga for the first time.
“I went into that class and for the first time, I started tearing up from just a few simple breathwork drills. I started feeling like my Native American heritage, my ancestral heritage. I’ve never really felt it before, but I could feel it in that moment. And I really felt like God touched me,” he told CBS.
Obviously, something clicked for him. He currently owns a yoga studio and has found a purpose in that along with fatherhood.
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dark time leads ex-Browns DE Desmond Bryant to his purpose in life
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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