FLOWERY BRANCH – Matt Bryant delivers under pressure. It’s his job.
The Falcons kicker had three game-winning field goals last season, helping the Falcons to a 13-3 record and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
He was re-signed in the offseason and is expected to recreate the important role this fall. When you’ve made a living as a kicker, including stints in NFL Europa and the United Football League, you get used to performing when it counts the most.
“There can be a lot of pressure,” Bryant said. “These guys play games for 59 minutes, 57 seconds and all of a sudden you have to go out there and it’s a do-or-die deal. ... You just have to do it. Either you can or you can’t, once you get to this level. There are a ton of guys out there that can kick as well or farther but when it comes time to do it, when there are real bullets flying out there, so to speak, that’s what separates guys that are here from guys that are not.”
Bryant hit a 46-yard overtime field goal against New Orleans last season, giving the Falcons a 27-24 victory and their first win in the Superdome in eight years. The next week, he converted a 43-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining for a 16-14 win over San Francisco. Bryant accounted for the Falcons' final nine points in the game.
Bryant also lifted the Falcons to a 20-17 over the Packers with a 47-yard field goal with nine seconds left, the 12th game-winning field goal of his career.
Pressure? What pressure?
Bryant recalls an old adage: Pressure is what you feel when you are not prepared. He heard it from Peyton Manning, who wasn’t first to utter that sentiment. The thought was not new to Bryant.
“You try to approach every kick the same way, whether it’s an extra point in the preseason or a 55-yard field goal to win it,” Bryant said. “That way, it’s all the same. There is no extra pressure or less pressure. In this business, you don’t want any surprises. Your coach wants to know whenever he calls a play, that this is what is going to happen. Or if he sends his kicker on the field, this is what is going to happen.”
Bryant had a 90 percent field goal percentage (28-of-31) last season, fifth best in the NFL. He was named the NFC player of the week twice. It was the sixth time he was so honored after twice being named with both Tampa Bay and the New York Giants.
“It’s very reassuring to put him out there is critical situations,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “He has a lot of moxie and savvy.”
It started at a young age. Back home in Bridge City, Texas, somewhere in the Bryant family archives is film of a 10-year-old Matt kicking a 35-yard goal. It happened on the same high school field Bryant would one day star. Also on that film is the family reaction.
“You would have thought we’d just won the Super Bowl,” Bryant said.
Whatever sport was in season, the Bryants would walk the 200 yards around the corner to the high school to watch Matt play. Bryant would become adept at baseball as well, earning a college scholarship. He also played linebacker at Bridge City High. Colleges were interested in him, but just not as a 5-foot-9 linebacker. Not if he was kicking 35-yard field goals as a 10-year-old.
“In high school I would get these letters from colleges and I would fill out the defensive part, knowing there is no way on earth I would ever go to college to be a linebacker,” Bryant said. “But in my mind, I was a linebacker. I also filled out the special teams part because that’s why they were sending me letters. Still, I couldn’t get it out of my head.”
Bryant played both sports in college. He started in the junior college ranks, playing football at Trinity Valley Junior College, which didn’t have a baseball team. In the spring, he would transfer to Pembroke College to play baseball. After two years, he moved on to Oregon State to play both sports, got homesick, returned to Texas and enrolled at Baylor University just for football.
“I accumulated a few school IDs,” Bryant said.
He was signed as a free agent by the Giants and was assigned to NFL Europa. Between 2004 and 2006, he would kick for the Giants, Colts and Dolphins before signing with the Buccaneers in 2005. He was released in 2009 after injuring a hamstring in training camp and did a stint with the UFL’s Florida Tuskers before signing with the Falcons that winter.
Bryant has made a name for himself here by performing under pressure. The 36-year-old sees no reason why he shouldn't continue doing so.
“I put up pretty good numbers last year,” he said. “I think I’m one of the better [kickers] out there. As long as I can feel that way, then I want to keep playing.”
About the Author
