In the long, illustrious history of the Pittsburgh Steelers there are quite a few “what-could-have-been” moments and players who still cause some conversations among the fan base and the media.
Names like Barry Foster, Bam Morris, Jason Worilds and more come to mind, at least in recent memory, but the biggest one remains former Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant.
For former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, if Bryant didn’t have all the off-field issues during his tenure with the Steelers, he would have been the greatest Steelers receiver in franchise history.
“Man, listen, if he didn’t get in trouble like how he was getting in trouble, he probably would’ve been Pittsburgh best receiver ever. I haven’t seen a guy that tall, that fast, that agile,” Taylor said on the Bleav In Steelers podcast with co-host Mark Bergin, according to video via Bergin’s YouTube page. “When AB [Antonio Brown] got hurt during that playoff run, he single-handedly damned near beat Cincinnati, he single-handed near beat the Denver Broncos. And that’s when the Denver Broncos had shutdown secondary, ‘No Fly Zone.'”
That’s better than names like Antonio Brown, Hines Ward and even Hall of Famers like John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. High praise from Taylor.
An incredible combination of size, speed and athleticism coming out of Clemson, Bryant landed with the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft at No. 118 overall. After a slow start to his career that had him inactive for the first six weeks of his rookie season, Bryant burst onto the scene and looked like one of the best receivers in football for a long stretch in the Steel City.
In his time with the Steelers, Bryant hauled in 126 receptions for 1,917 yards and 17 touchdowns, including scores of 94 and 88 yards in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
As Taylor alluded to, Bryant went off in the 2015 playoffs, hauling in an acrobatic touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in a wild 18-16 win that saw Brown knocked out of the game after a dirty hit from Vontaze Burfict. Heading to Denver the next week to take on the Broncos without Brown, Bryant took a star turn, hauling in nine receptions for 154 yards, adding two carries for 40 yards.
The Steelers came up short, but it looked like Bryant was a future star, No. 1-type receiver. That was a terrifying thought for opposing defenses as Brown was at the height of his powers for the Steelers.
Then, it all came crashing down due to off-the-field issues, particularly substance abuse ones. Bryant was suspended the first four games of the 2015 season due to a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. He was suspended the entire 2016 season for another substance abuse policy violation.
The Steelers traded him to the then-Oakland Raiders ahead of the 2018 season, where he then faced another one-year suspension before being reinstated. After that, Bryant was out of the league after being suspended for the entire 2018 season due to the substance abuse policy, bouncing around the CFL, XFL and some arena league upstarts.
Now, he’s back in the NFL, signing with the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad, giving him a chance to fulfill his promise once again.
Though Taylor is happy to see Bryant back in the NFL, it’s still a what-if situation for the former Steelers cornerback, who played his final season in the NFL in 2014, Bryant’s rookie season.
The combination of size, speed and athleticism remains scary for Taylor all these years later.
“Hey, listen, usually these guys with that kind of athleticism are smaller guys. Guys who tall like him usually don’t have that kind of athleticism. For a guy to be that tall with short-man athleticism is scary,” Taylor added. “But he’s on the right team. He’s on a team that need another receiver.”
It’s a feel-good story to see Bryant overcome some of his off-field issues and get a chance in the NFL again. He’s put in the work, stayed in shape and done everything the league asked him to do to be reinstated. Now it’s time to see if that scary combination Bryant possesses physically can make a difference again.
