Last week, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant applied for his reinstatement after sitting out the entire 2016 season due to a suspension for multiple violations of the league’s substance abuse policy and if things go as many believe they will, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should render his decision on the matter within 60 days, or soon thereafter.
During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Bryant indicated that he has turned his life around and that includes him not smoking marijuana in eight months. In a recent interview with Chris Bradford of The Beaver County Times, Bryant’s agent, Brian Fettner, provided an encouraging update on his client.
“He’s in a good place mentally,” Fettner reportedly said on Monday. “He doesn’t smoke anymore. There is going to be no more drama.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was recently asked during his end-of-the-season press conference if he expects to have Bryant back in 2017 and if so, what he needs to see from the team’s former fourth-round draft pick when and if he returns to the team.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Tomlin said of Bryant. “I know that he’s probably going through a restatement process soon, if he hadn’t started it already. A lot of those things have nothing to do with me. I’m kind of in the wait-and-see mode like a lot of you guys are in some of the processes that has to occur in terms of him getting reinstated.
“Obviously, I’m hopeful for that reinstatement, but I’m in a wait-and-see mentality because a lot of those things are outside of our control.”
Fettner continued with his praise of Bryant during his talk with Bradford.
“To be honest, he’s way more grounded than people would think he is,” Fettner said. “He’s not at the club, he’s not punching his girlfriend. He’s never been arrested in his life. This isn’t public enemy No. 1 over here.
“He’s a shy guy. He’s a very ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no, sir’ guy. This isn’t like ‘Oh my God, he needs to go through behavioral, anger management kind of thing.”
During his time away from the Steelers, Bryant has reportedly been in Las Vegas volunteering his time at a local high school in addition to training for 2017 season. He admitted during his SI interview that he’s taking his offseason training a lot more serious than he had previously and even posted a picture proving that he has put on some weight.
A week ago, a parody account of Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 93.7 The Fan posted on poll on Twitter in which he asked his followers if they thought Bryant would pass a drug test and play all 16 games in 2017. Bryant responded to the tweet and you can see it below.
Bryant’s agent has no doubt that his client will be back in 2017 picking up where he left off in 2015.
“He’s going to be back and he’s going to be great,” Fettner said, according to Bradford.
Including two playoff games, Bryant played in 13 total contest for the Steelers during the 2015 season and he caught 64 passes for 948 yards and 7 touchdowns. If you were to extrapolate his averages out over 16 games, it works out to nearly 79 catches 1167 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Steelers could certainly use that sort of production in 2017 and hopefully Bryant does indeed return to provide it for them.
The Steelers certainly have enough drama going on right now with two of their key offensive players and we can only hope that Bryant indeed doesn’t add to it.
