No. 21, 25 | |||||||
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Position: | Cornerback | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. | January 15, 1951||||||
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
College: | Grambling | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1974 / round: 6 / pick: 153 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
William Bryant Jr. (born January 15, 1951) is an American former football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bryant played college football at Grambling College—now Grambling State University—and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1974 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Bryant was also drafted by the Houston Texans in the thirty-third round of the 1974 World Football League college draft. He signed with the Texans and began the 1974 season with them before switching to the Birmingham Americans midway through the season when the Texans encountered financial difficulties. [1] He played for the Birmingham Vulcans in the WFL's ill-fated 1975 season until the league folded on October 22, 1975.
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The league folded midway through its second season, in 1975. A new minor football league began play as the World Football League in 2008 after acquiring the rights to its trademarks and intellectual property; it folded in 2011.
John Perry Pardee was an American professional football player and head coach. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). As a coach, he is the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the NFL, the United States Football League (USFL), the World Football League (WFL), and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Pardee was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.
Junious "Buck" Buchanan was an American professional football defensive tackle who played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Buchanan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. Buchanan was massive for his era, standing at 6'7", and weighing 270 lbs. His height gave him a big advantage against lineman in the trenches.
Kenneth Aaron Pettway is a former American gridiron football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL) from 2005 to 2012.
Gary Lynn "Big Hands" Johnson was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was a four-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He played the majority of his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers, and he was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.
Garland Dean Boyette was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played for the Houston Oilers and St. Louis Cardinals from 1962 to 1972. He also played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), as well as the Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League (WFL). In 1967, he was the regular starting middle linebacker for the Oilers and joined Willie Lanier of the Kansas City Chiefs as the first African-Americans to start that position in professional football.
Sterling Bradford Shearer is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman for three seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, earning unanimous All-American honors and recognition as the best college interior lineman in the country in 1977. A third-round pick in the 1978 NFL draft, he played professionally for the NFL's Chicago Bears.
Alfred Donnell Jenkins is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Birmingham Americans in 1974 and nine seasons for the Atlanta Falcons from 1975 through 1983. Jenkins was selected to the Pro Bowl during the 1980 and 1981 seasons and is considered the most successful National Football League (NFL) player from the short-lived World Football League (WFL).
Woodrow Lowe, is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker from 1976 to 1986 for the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL). Lowe played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide under Bear Bryant from 1972 to 1975.
Ron Ray Jessie was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills. He played college football at the University of Kansas.
Charles Edward Harraway, Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He also played one season in the World Football League, with the champion Birmingham Americans in 1974. He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans.
Willie Albert Williams is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, as well as the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Grambling State Tigers and was selected in the eighth round of the 1965 NFL draft. He led the NFL in interceptions in 1968, and was selected to the Pro Bowl the following season. After playing nine seasons with the NFL and the AFL, Williams played two seasons with The Hawaiians of the World Football League in 1974 and 1975.
Johnny Musso is an American former professional football player who was a running back for three seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Bears. Musso played college football at the University of Alabama, where was a consensus selection on the 1971 College Football All-America Team. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Dennis Frank Homan is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons for the Dallas Cowboys (1968–1970) and the Kansas City Chiefs (1971–1972). He later played for the Birmingham Americans (1974) and Birmingham Vulcans (1975) of the World Football League (WFL) He is most proud of his children and grandchildren.
Waymond Bryant is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).
Joe Profit is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL). He spent two seasons, plus part of a third, on the Atlanta Falcons before moving to the New Orleans Saints. He was selected in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft. In his three seasons in the NFL, he rushed 133 times for 471 yards and three touchdowns. He spent the 1974 season with the Birmingham Americans and 1975 with the Birmingham Vulcans, both of the World Football League. He played college football at Northeast Louisiana University. Profit ran as a Republican in 2018 for Congress in Georgia's 4th congressional district, losing to incumbent Democrat Hank Johnson.
Walter Kevin Dean is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Grambling State Tigers. In his senior year, he led the nation in rushing and won the 1990 Walter Payton Award as the most outstanding player in Division I-AA football. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL draft.
Virgil I. Robinson Jr. is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints. He also was a member of the Houston Texans / Shreveport Steamer in the World Football League. He played college football at Grambling State University.
The 1973 Grantland Rice Bowl was an NCAA Division II game following the 1973 season, between the Grambling Tigers and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. This was the first year that the game served as a national semifinal for Division II – in prior years it had been the Mideast regional championship for the College Division. This was the last time that the game was played at BREC Memorial Stadium.
The 1974 Grambling Tigers football team represented Grambling State University as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 1974 NCAA Division II football season. In its 32nd season under head coach Eddie Robinson, Grambling compiled an 11–1 record, tied for the SWAC championship, defeated South Carolina State in the Pelican Bowl, and outscored opponents by a total of 308 to 120. The team was recognized as the 1974 black college football national co-champion and was ranked No. 7 by the Associated Press in the final small college rankings.