NFL player tells students about his path to success

A NFL football player spoke to students at East Arcadia School in Bladen County this afternoon.

Desmond Bryant is a defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from East Bladen High School. Bryant played high school football there and went on to play college ball at Harvard. One of the nation’s top academic institutions.

Bryant just completed his rookie season with the raiders. His path of Bladen County to Harvard to the raiders is certainly unique.

“I had teachers ask me what do you want to do with your life? I said I wanted to be an NFL football player,” Bryant said. “They’d say you can’t do that. Do you know the chances of doing that are really low?”

In his rookie season Bryant had 25 tackles. He even sacked Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. It was a pre-season game, but a sack is always a sack when it’s against one of the best NFL quarterbacks.