In February 2013, a photo of Desmond Bryant went viral. Instead of signing a $35 million contract with the Cleveland Browns, the former Harvard player woke up in a jail cell.
At the time, Bryant says he thought sticking his tongue out was a good idea. It quickly made headlines.
"I came out of jail the next morning and not only was my mugshot all over, Photoshops had already begun, memes were already trending," he said.
That same relentless drive that got him to the NFL followed him to the bottle. And after injuries piled up in Cleveland, the Browns voided his contract. He lost the game that gave him everything. Bryant says that's when he fell into the darkness.
"Losing football is a devastating thing. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do. I didn't really have a purpose," he said. The former NFL defensive end turned to drugs and alcohol.
He tried going back to Harvard to finish his degree, but that didn't last.
"I've always felt like Superman," Bryant said. "I could do anything. And all of a sudden drinking is something that you cannot be."
Then the pandemic happened, and things escalated. "I was in that house by myself, drinking to the worst," Bryant said.
It wasn't until he worked with a therapist that he understood how lost he really was. "And with that conversation came the realization, talking to myself in that moment, I wanted to die, he said.
Since that moment, Bryant started working his way back to living through yoga.
"When I first started doing yoga, I couldn't do it. I couldn't sit still and I didn't want to spend time with myself," he said. And then one breathwork class cracked something open for him.
"I started tearing up," he recalled. "I started feeling my ancestral heritage. … And I really felt like God touched me."
Today, the father of two is sober. He owns Hanu Yoga Studio in Miami and volunteers to feed the homeless with the Chapman Partnership. He's now making peace with that mugshot that once made him a punchline.
"My test is my testimony," he says. "That period of darkness, I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about humanity. And the things that I learned, I want to share with others now."
Read more about his story, in his own words, here.
Former NFL player tackles addiction
Former NFL player tackles addiction
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