Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant is hoping to return in 2017 after being forced to sit out the entire 2016 season due to him being suspended for multiple violations of the league’s substance abuse policy and he recently sat down with Jacob Feldman of Sports Illustrated to discuss where he’s currently at in his life.
Bryant admitted during the interview that he really didn’t take his past fines and suspensions seriously. In fact, he admitted that his drug rehab stint with John Lucas in Houston wasn’t taken seriously, either.
“I never really paid it no mind,” Bryant said. “It was what it was. I made my mistake.”
Now that he’s been suspended for an entire season, Bryant knows he probably doesn’t have any strikes left.
“I know I’m on my last chance,” the Steelers former fourth-round draft pick said.” I’ve been watching what happened with Josh Gordon, Manziel, Justin Blackmon.”
Bryant went on to say that he’s made some changes in his life and that includes him surrounding himself with a smaller group of people. Additionally, he told Feldman that the last time he smoked marijuana was “about eight moths ago” and that at first it was hard for him to quit.
“I couldn’t sleep for four days,” Bryant said. “I would get frustrated. Mad. I’d yell, “Why can’t I sleep!” but after about four days it got better.”
Bryant also discussed his training as well during the interview.
“I used to just show up on Saturday and ball out. Show up on Sunday and ball. I never trained in the off-season,” Bryant admitted. “Maybe like once a month. My first year, I went to L.A. in the off-season and I was good during that first week. Then there wasn’t any more training.
“I was skinny when I got here. I was 205. I added 10 pounds in my first few months here. I feel different now.”
The Steelers really could have used Bryant this past season but managed to win the AFC North Division without him. It will now be interesting to see if he can continue to keep himself clean moving forward and become one of the league’s best deep threats.
It will be several more months before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell considers reinstating Bryant and should that ultimately happen, he told Feldman he really won’t have much of anything to say to the team.
“What happened happened. What’s done is done. There’s nothing for me to say,” Bryant said. “Just move on and show with my actions. They’ll see on the field. I’m not going to go back and say nothing. They’re grown men.”
It’s time for Bryant to show he’s a grown man as well.
