Monday, September 29, 2008

The Winner of Week 4 of the 2008 NFL Season

Bret Favre threw 6 TD passes. The Redskins beat the unbeaten Cowboys. The Bills lead the AFC East, undefeated, for the first time in like 700 billion years (or is that how much money I have to pay to bail out the economy???). One of the Ohio NFL teams has finally scored a Win. The Patriots didn't lose (jump on the Bandwagon, HATERS! I stand by my predictions. After the embarrasing THRASHING that the Patriots received by the Miami Browns...er...oh, wait, that was Ronnie Brown. I meant, Miami Dolphins...do you not think that the SF 49ers shouldn't consider themselves Bill Belicheck's personal Red-Headed-Step-Child???).

The real, true, and only winner in Week 4 is Matt Bryant, the Placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Really??? Did he kick a 76 yard Field Goal? Did he place a Kickoff in the parking lot? Did his coach decide to try using him as a Wide Receiver, and he score 27 Touchdowns? No. None of that happened. Here's what happened:

This past Wednesday morning, Matt and his family woke up to find his 3-month old, Matthew Tryson Bryant, dead in his crib. Autopsy Reports are FOO FOO. It doesn't matter what the cause. This family found their infant dead. There will be a million questions going through their minds, about whether they put him in the crib in the right position, did they make sure he couldn't roll over, did they burp him correctly after his last bottle? I can't even imagine. And don't want to imagine.

Matt Bryant buried his son on Saturday, and then played in Sunday's game. Should he have played? I have read a number of Sports Writers that think it was ok that he did, and a number that think he shouldn't have. Who are any of us to judge any one else for the way they deal with this type of loss?

People deal with death in many different ways. There's no right or wrong way. People deal with death in THEIR OWN way. Matt Bryant chose to be surrounded by his family. Both on and off the field, his "family" was all with him, supporting him.

I declare Matt Bryant as my Winner of Week 4 of the 2008 NFL Season. For all the reasons previously stated.

Oh, yeah, by the way...a fact that really means very little...he kicked 3 PAT's and 3 Field Goals, including the game-winning Field Goal.

The following is an article written by Roy Johnson of Yahoo Sports Blogs:


A kicker's mind is supposed to be clear.

They live by rituals – preparing exactly the same way before each kick. They often stand at the same place on the sidelines; ask that the holder places the ball just so; take the same number of steps backwards to get into place, then – only when they're ready – will the action begin.

Then the kicker thinks about nothing except swinging his leg.

No one yet knows what was on Matt Bryant's mind today. But every parent can imagine what burden was laying upon his heart.

On Wednesday, Bryant, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' placekicker for the last four seasons, and his family awoke to discover 3-month-old Tryson Bryant dead in his crib. As of now, there has been no announcement as to a cause.

Matthew was the youngest of Matt (shown with Melissa and son Tre prior to Sunday's game) and Melissa's two sons. His funeral was Saturday.

And yet there was Matt, trying to keep a clear mind, trying to adhere to his rituals on Sunday at Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium against Green Bay.

Going into the game, Bryant was one of the game's most accurate kickers. He'd not missed a field or or PAT in five and eight tries, respectively. He remained perfect Sunday, hitting three PATs and field goals of 23, 36 and the game-winner from 24 yards during a 31-20 victory.

There may be some who criticize Matt for playing on Sunday. I am not among them. Nor do I think any parent would be.

They can only imagine his pain. And they never want to imagine his grief.

Grief requires peace. Grief requires finding a place where one can make sense of the senseless.

Grief requires finding a place in the mind that can be clear while the heart tries to mind.

Everyone has a different place. For some, it's a place of solitude. For others, it may be a place that holds 65,857 people.

Matt Bryant's place of peace and clarity was where it always is – on the football field.

A place where every parent's prayers were with him.


And, here's another gut-wrenching article about Matt Bryant. It's as special as any:


Matt Bryant hits game-winner amidst tragedy

One day after burying his three-month old son, Matt Bryant kicked the game-winning field goal for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After the kick sailed through, giving the Bucs a 23-21 lead over Green Bay, Bryant blew a kiss skyward with tears in his eyes. Holder Josh Bidwell embraced Bryant in a bear hug after the kick, and the rest of Bryant's Buc teammates joined in a subdued celebration too.


Bryant's son, Tryson, unexpectedly died Wednesday morning. Jon Gruden told the press that afternoon that Tryson "just didn't wake up."

Watching Bryant attempt the kick today was a truly gut-wrenching scene. I was watching the game with three friends, none of whom could care less about the outcome of the Bucs/Packers tilt, but we all celebrated when Bryant hit the kick.

That Bryant was even playing today is amazing. The NFL has no roster exemptions for bereavement, meaning that if Bryant didn't play, the Bucs would have had to have cut another play in order to sign a replacement. It's a terrible rule, especially considering that teams can make roster exemptions for suspended players. Hopefully, Bryant's tragedy will force the NFL to reconsider.