Dorien Lamar Bryant (born March 19, 1985) is an American former professional football wide receiver.
Bryant attended Kingsway Regional High School, where he was ranked as ninth-best wide receiver and 75th-best player in the nation by Rivals.com.
He led the league and ranked eighth nationally with 7.27 receptions and finished second in the Big Ten with an average of 87.27 yards receiving per game.
[2] After high school Bryant signed a letter of intent to Boston College in the same recruiting class that landed Matt Ryan,[3] but he failed to qualify academically, so he went to Fork Union Military Academy for a prep year before he could re-enter college recruiting pools.
In 2005, Bryant received second-team sophomore All-American honors from College Football News.
He was selected College Offensive Player of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Southern New Jersey, appearing in all 11 games, including nine starts at slot receiver.
[6] As a junior, Bryant started 13 games, coming off the bench vs. Maryland in the Champs Sports Bowl.
He led the league and ranked eighth nationally with 7.27 receptions and finished second in the Big Ten with an average of 87.27 yards receiving per game.
He ranks second in school history with 292 receptions, third with 3,548 yards receiving (12.2-yard average) and is tied for fifth with 21 touchdown grabs.
His 6,219 all-purpose yards set the Purdue all-time record[6] and rank fourth in Big Ten history and 16th in NCAA 1-A annals.
[6] Bryant is one of seven players in school history to record 100-plus yards in two statistical categories in the same game and one of two to accomplish the feat twice.
He was also a member of the 4x400 relay team (along with former football players Zach Logan and Ray Williams) that finished seventh at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with a time of 3:15.81.
[9][10] Bryant was invited to the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which started on February 20, along with teammates Dustin Keller, Cliff Avril and Stanford Keglar.
Bryant denied that he was gay, but the experience and taunting he endured in a game against Indiana State, helped him realize he did not want to have to hide his sexuality for an entire pro career.