View source for Rick Bryan

{{Short description|American football player (1962–2009)}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name          = Rick Bryan
| number        = 77
| position      = [[Defensive end (American football)|Defensive end]] <br> [[Defensive tackle]]
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1962|3|20}}
| birth_place   = [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2009|7|25|1962|3|20}}
| death_place   = [[Coweta, Oklahoma]], U.S.
| height_ft     = 6
| height_in     = 4
| weight_lb     = 265
| high_school   = [[Coweta High School|Coweta (OK)]]
| college       = [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma]]
| draftyear     = 1984
| draftround    = 1
| draftpick     = 9
| pastteams     =
* [[Atlanta Falcons]] ({{NFL Year|1984|1993}})
| highlights    =
* [[List of unanimous All-Americans in college football|Unanimous All-American]] ([[1983 College Football All-America Team|1983]])
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1982 College Football All-America Team|1982]])
* 2× [[Big Eight Conference football#Defensive Player of the Year|Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year]] (1982, 1983)
* 3× First-team All-[[Big Eight Conference|Big Eight]] ([[1981 All-Big Eight Conference football team|1981]], [[1982 All-Big Eight Conference football team|1982]], [[1983 All-Big Eight Conference football team|1983]])
| statlabel1    = [[Quarterback sack|Sacks]]
| statvalue1    = 29.0
| statlabel2    = [[Fumble]] recoveries
| statvalue2    = 3
| statlabel3    = [[Safety (gridiron football score)|Safeties]]
| statvalue3    = 1
| pfr           = B/BryaRi20 
}}

'''Rick Don Bryan''' (March 20, 1962 – July 25, 2009) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[defensive end]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for 10 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s.  Bryan played [[college football]] for the [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma Sooners]], and received [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] honors. He ranked fifth on [[Sports Illustrated]] 2021 all-time “Top 10 Sooners Defensive Line” list.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chapman |first1=Ryan |title=Top 10 Sooners: Defensive Line |url=https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/football/top-10-sooners-defensive-line |website=[[Sports Illustrated]] |access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref> In another ''Sports Illustrated'' article titled “Greatest College Football Players by Jersey Number,” Bryan was mentioned as being the all-time greatest player of those who have ever wore college jersey number “80.” (WR [[Anthony Carter (American football)|Anthony Carter]] from [[University of Michigan]] was on the list for wearing jersey number “1.” DE [[Hugh Green (American football)|Hugh Green]] from [[University of Pittsburgh]] was on the list for wearing jersey number “99.”)<ref>{{cite news |title=Greatest College Football Players by Jersey Number |url=https://www.si.com/college/2015/07/28/greatest-college-football-players-jersey-number#gid=ci025585b570002511&pid=no-1--anthony-carter-wr-michigan-1979-82 |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[Sports Illustrated]] |date=July 28, 2015}}</ref> The [[Bleacher Report]] also stated in an article that Bryan was the best-ever college football player who wore jersey number “80.”<ref>{{cite news |last1=Humphrey |first1=Chris |title=The Greatest College Football Players by the Numbers: 71-80 |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/429036-the-greatest-college-football-players-by-the-numbers-71-80 |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=August 3, 2010}}</ref> Bryan was selected in the first round of the [[1984 NFL draft]], and played professionally for the [[Atlanta Falcons]] of the NFL.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Conn |first1=Patrick |title=All of Oklahoma's first round NFL draft picks since 1980 |url=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/lists/oklahoma-sooners-nfl-draft-first-round-picks-since-1980/ |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[USA Today Sports Weekly]] |date=February 24, 2021}}</ref>

Bryan’s younger brother Steve Bryan also played for the Sooners and also played in the NFL. An article in [[The Oklahoman]] stated that Steve was an “All-Big Eight defensive lineman who helped the Sooners win the 1985 national championship before playing two seasons for the [[Denver Broncos]].”<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Justin |title=HOME BOYS Bryan brothers' football journey begins, ends at Coweta |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2004/09/17/home-boys-br-bryan-brothers-football-journey-begins-ends-at-coweta/61974087007/ |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[The Oklahoman]]}}</ref> Rick and Steve’s older brother Mitch didn’t play in the NFL, but did also play college football for the Sooners.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tramel |first1=Berry |title=Ex-Sooner, NFL star Rick Bryan dies at 47 |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/college/2009/07/27/ex-sooner-nfl-star-rick-bryan-dies-at-47/61380631007/ |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[The Oklahoman]]}}</ref>

==Early life==
Bryan was born in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]].  He attended [[Coweta High School]] in [[Coweta, Oklahoma]] where he earned All-State honors in 1980.  He began playing [[linebacker]] in high school but was moved to [[defensive tackle]] by one of his coaches, Ben Wasson.  Bryan was named to the ''[[Tulsa World]]'''s All-century High school football team in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tramel |first1=Jimmie |title=Former Sooner All-America football player Rick Bryan dies|url=https://tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/ou-great-rick-bryan-dead/article_6cc5d0a8-46c8-59bb-b26f-1b92c6528da7.html |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[Tulsa World]] |date=July 26, 2009}}</ref>

==College career==
Bryan was a consensus All-American at the University of Oklahoma in 1982 and 1983.  He was Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year in 1982 and Academic All-Conference from 1981 to 1983.  He owns the school record for career tackles by a defensive lineman (365), ranking him ahead of [[Kevin Murphy (linebacker)|Kevin Murphy]] and [[Lee Roy Selmon]].  He is OU's eighth leading career tackler regardless of position.  “No one outworked him,” said OU coach Barry Switzer.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tramel |first1=Berry |title=Ex-Sooner, NFL star Rick Bryan dies at 47 |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/college/2009/07/27/ex-sooner-nfl-star-rick-bryan-dies-at-47/61380631007/ |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[The Oklahoman]]}}</ref>

==Professional career==
Bryan was selected by the [[Atlanta Falcons]] with the ninth overall pick in the [[1984 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1984 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1984/draft.htm |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> Bryan was the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1984.  He spent all nine years of his professional career with the [[Atlanta Falcons]], and still has the tenth most sacks in a career in Falcons' history, with the eighth most yardage lost.  He eventually was forced into retirement by a number of injuries, including neck and back pains and a popped Achilles tendon.  He was diagnosed with a spinal nerve injury in 1989, but kept playing and started sixteen games in each of the next two seasons.<ref>{{cite news |title=REMEMBERING OU ALL-AMERICAN RICK BRYAN |url=https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3671b82f69d76f620821e5/remembering-ou-allamerican-rick-bryan |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[News 9 Now and News on 6 Now]] |date=July 26, 2009}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:Rick Bryan Field House Coweta Oklahoma.jpg|thumb|''Ricky Bryan Field House'' in [[Coweta, Oklahoma]]]] Bryan died on July 25, 2009, at the age of 47, in his home in Coweta.  He had suffered from [[congestive heart failure]] and his family said he died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]]. 2,500 people attended his funeral in Coweta on July 30, 2009. He now has a sign dedicated to him on the road outside the Coweta High School.<ref>John E. Hoover, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20090731_92_B1_COWETA828952&archive=yes "Rick Bryan, beloved by his community: Coweta pays its respects to Rick Bryan, whose impact and influence was felt by many in town"], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', July 31, 2009.</ref>

In 2018, contractors working for the Coweta school system completed construction of a new field house dedicated to Bryan. The honor was bestowed upon him not only because of his outstanding athletic abilities, but also for the time and effort he invested in the youth of the community. An article written by [[News 9 Now and News on 6 Now|News on 6]] stated that Bryan “always seemed to have time to work with kids; and putting his name on the new field house seems only natural.”<ref>{{cite news |title=COWETA DEDICATES NEW FIELD HOUSE TO LATE NFL PLAYER |url=https://www.news9.com/story/5e3629832f69d76f6204b183/coweta-dedicates-new-field-house-to-late-nfl-player |access-date=26 November 2022 |agency=[[News 9 Now and News on 6 Now]] |date=November 18, 2014}}</ref> On October 11, 2021, an [[Fujita scale|EF-1 tornado]] severely damaged the Coweta Tigers’ baseball stadium, which is adjacent to the ''Ricky Bryan Field House''. The field house was minimally affected by the tornado.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fieldstadt |first1=Elisha |title=Multiple tornadoes reported in Oklahoma, leaving thousands without power |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/multiple-tornadoes-reported-oklahoma-leaving-thousands-without-power-n1281217 |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[NBC News]] |date=October 11, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fish |first1=Tom |title=Oklahoma Tornado Photos Reveal Widespread Destruction in Coweta |url=https://www.newsweek.com/oklahoma-tornado-photos-destruction-coweta-1637453 |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[Newsweek]] |date=October 11, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mills |first1=Russell |title=EF-1 tornado strikes Coweta; Homes, vehicles, and at least one school damaged |url=https://www.krmg.com/news/local/possible-tornado-strikes-coweta-homes-vehicles-least-one-school-damaged/GYVNBAS3IVFRRDAKNEV73KDAGA/ |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=[[KRMG-FM]] |date=October 11, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BryaRi20.htm Rick Bryan's Pro Football Reference page]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060903222309/http://www.atlantafalcons.com/history/irSacks.jsp the official Atlanta Falcons' statistics page]

{{1982 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1983 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1984 NFL Draft}}
{{FalconsFirstPick}}
{{Atlanta Falcons 1984 draft navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Rick}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football defensive tackles]]
[[Category:Atlanta Falcons players]]
[[Category:Oklahoma Sooners football players]]
[[Category:People from Coweta, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]