Martavis Bryant: Coming Back Stronger

Bryant in action at TL Hanna High School in 2009

It’s going to take more than a military school to hold Martavis Bryant back from his dreams.  The standout wide receiver from Anderson’s T.L. Hanna High School just had to take a longer road to get to his dream. Ranked by Rivals.com as the 10^th best Wide Receiver recruit in the entire United States, Bryant was considered by many as the best recruit from Clemson’s 2010 recruiting class. He chose to sign with Clemson over offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee and UCLA. But, Bryant fell just a half of a credit short of qualifying at Clemson University. No one was more disappointed about that than Bryant and his mother.

“It was hurtful to me because my Mom was sitting in the living room and the coach came in and told me about it,” Bryant recalled, “I didn’t really like the situation but I had to do what I had to do for my mom.”

Bryant would instead have to spend what would have been his freshman year in college at a prep school. The school that Bryant was referred to by Clemson Offensive Line Coach Brad Scott was Hargrave Military Academy which is located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Many football players have had to suit up for Hargrave Military including Charles Grant, a NFL Defensive End, and first round NFL draft pick Brandon Albert. Bryant, however, didn’t have much information about Hargrave.

“I didn’t really know anything about the school,” Bryant admitted. “They told me I would have to cut my hair and everything. Once I got there I didn’t like it. I had to get used to a lot of things that I wasn’t used to.”

Among those things Bryant had to get used to was being up early and having to adhere to Hargrave’s schedule rather than his own. Bryant received advice about Hargrave specifically from a leader within Clemson’s program.

“I talked to DeAndre McDaniel who went to this school and he told me a little bit about it,” Bryant says. “He told me not to let the military stuff get to me and I would be alright.”

Even with the advice from McDaniel, Bryant says Hargrave got the best of him sometimes and made him wish to be at Clemson. Even though the year at Hargrave seemed tough and unbearable, Bryant’s loyalty to Clemson never wavered.

“I was going to stay true to Clemson, Coach Scott and Coach Swinney because they stayed true to me all throughout my recruiting.”

Bryant was joined by fellow 2010 Clemson signee Corey Crawford. Bryant cites this friendship with his hall resident as one of the reasons he was able to work through the semester at Hargrave. He also thinks this has made him tougher and given him a reason to work harder.

“I have to make it this time,” Bryant adds. “I can’t do anything like this anymore.”

After the semester at Hargrave Bryant has an optimistic viewpoint of Clemson’s 2011 season. Bryant sees big horizons ahead for the 2011 Clemson Tigers football team and specifically its 2011 recruiting class.

“With the amount of talent we have coming in 2011, we should win an ACC Championship this year.”