Browns rookie defensive end Armonty Bryant admitted Tuesday to a substance abuse problem. But with the help of fellow rookie Barkevious Mingo, team support and some powerful messages at this week's NFL rookie symposium, he's working at staying sober.
"I would say yes,'' Bryant said after the rookies' Play 60 youth event at the Browns facility when asked if drugs and alcohol had been a problem. "Because I thought at times I was above the game, and that's one thing they’ve been teaching us at the symposium -- don’t be above the game.
"It's a blessing that I’m even here playing this game and living out a dream of mine. So don't take advantage of this, and I feel that’s exactly what I did.''
Bryant, arrested on a drunk-driving charge less than a week after being a seventh-round pick by Cleveland from East Central (Okla.) University, saw himself in former NBA player Chris Herren, who delivered an emotional speech this week about losing everything to heroin, crack cocaine, crystal meth and any other drug he could get his hands on. In addition to the DUI, Bryant was arrested on campus in October, 2012 for twice selling $20 worth of marijuana to undercover cops.
"(Herren's) message was real powerful," said Bryant. "He was talking about his substance abuse, and he was just really strung out on drugs, real bad. He was able to get help over and over and still make the same mistakes.
"I feel like it kind of reminds me of myself, just getting help and then making the same mistakes. Hearing about the whole 17 years of just being strung out on drugs, who knows? ... It could happen to anyone. I really took his message and it really stuck with me that you’re going to have to get over this and just know that later on, whatever the future may hold, this could better you.''
Since the DUI arrest, Bryant has sworn off drugs and alcohol, played lots of X-Box and has been hanging with Mingo.
"He's just been keeping me focused and just really helping me out through my situation and everything. We go out, go watch a movie, go out to dinner, just get my mind of stuff like that.''
Mingo, the team's first-round pick, has embraced the opportunity to help Bryant.
"I guess it works both ways," he said. "He's obviously trying to make amends for the mistakes he's made in his past. He's trying to stop doing stuff that caused him problems. Me not doing that and him being with me, we kind of just have common interests I guess. We're doing the same things, so it kind of worked out for the both of us."
He's convinced Bryant is determined to stay straight.
"I've talked with him a lot. ... He's trying to make up for that. Those guys that we just saw (in the symposium), he doesn't want that to happen to him.''
Bryant, who started using as a senior in high school, has paid attention to receiver Josh Gordon's two-game suspension for a positive codeine test. Like Bryant, Gordon was arrested on a marijuana charge in college that hurt his career.
"He's my teammate now and I have to have his back and everything, but me going through the same type of situation, making mistakes in college, it's something I can learn from," Bryant said. "I'll just try to keep my eyes forward and stay on that narrow path."
Bryant listened to former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett's cautionary tale of ruining his NFL career before it began. A third-round pick of the Broncos in 2005, Clarett never played an NFL down, had drug problems, was arrested for armed robbery and spent three years in prison on a gun charge. He's currently playing rugby in Columbus and doing speaking engagements.
"That really opened my eyes,'' said Bryant. "It just goes to show that as fast as it can be given, it can be taken away.''
His takeaway from Clarett was to surround himself with the right people.
"He said 'show me your friends, I'll show you your future,'" said Bryant. "I've been thinking about that a lot. If your friends are doing the wrong things, you could be going down that same path they are."
Bryant called his drug use "a weekend-type thing."
"When you go out on the weekends, you just want to loosen up a little bit from a long week," he said. "Now how I loosen up is just talk to friends and family. Just hearing people's voices at home and them telling me, 'Oh man, you're so lucky to be there.'
"Making another mistake like that would just be like a slap in the face to them, so I've been working really hard on not doing it."
In addition to the support from Mingo and others, Bryant takes measures to stay sober. He's also likely in the NFL's substance abuse program following the DUI.
"I talk to a psychologist here who works with the team every week," Bryant said. "We talk about it, all the urges that I might have and stuff like that, and what I do to overcome them. It's really helped me out a lot."
After the symposium, Bryant will return home to Texas until training camp begins July 25. He's not worried that without Mingo he'll get in trouble again.
"My mom, she's everything for me and she just keeps me positive," he said. "She's like 'son, don't be doing anything stupid, just stay home.' She's really hard on me and she knows what I have at stake, what I can really be and stuff like that, so she really has my back on everything."
Thanks to his support system, Bryant has been finding it easier to change his lifestyle.
"Deep down inside I know that it’s what I really need to do," he said. "Just being here, I just feel like I don’t want to do it anymore. I just want to give that up."
-- This article from: cleveland.com
-- The author of Reprinted this article from:www.officialnflfansshop.com
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