Westbrook attended El Camino High School, where he was a three-year starter at defensive back, while helping his team to 2 county titles.
Westbrook played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named the starting right cornerback midway through his freshman season, tallying 39 tackles, 7 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.
One such moment occurred in the 1995 rivalry game against Texas A&M when Westbrook landed a devastating hit on Aggies running back Leeland McElroy.
"[2] In yet another memorable instance of his powerful hits, in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, Westbrook "laid the lumber" to FB Brian Edmonds of Virginia Tech, knocking him unconscious.
The hit caused ABC announcer Mark Jones to say, "Somebody answer the phone, because there's a bell ringing, and it's Bryant Westbrook."
Then later after some replays and analysis of the play, he further commented about Edmonds, “When he comes to, his clothes will be out of style.”[3] Westbrook was selected in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1997 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.
[5] In 2000, he was having his best season as a professional, until suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon against the Minnesota Vikings and being placed on the injured reserve list on December 4.
He also was named a Pro Bowl alternate and earned the Chuck Hughes Most Improved Player award, as voted by teammates.
[7] He passed Duane Hawthorne on the depth chart and was named the starter at left cornerback for the season opener against the Houston Texans, who at the time were an expansion team, playing in their first game ever.
He continued to be targeted by the Texans during the contest and in the fourth quarter, a sack of quarterback David Carr was cancelled because Westbrook was called with a 5-yard penalty for illegal contact, leading to the final touchdown of a 19–10 loss.
[9] On October 9, 2002, he was signed by the Green Bay Packers as a free agent for depth purposes, after injuries to Mike McKenzie and Darren Sharper.