Broncos’ Pat Bryant carries weight of lost friends to reach new heights in Denver: ‘Loyalty comes first’

On Sundays this fall Robert Bryant and -some other inmates at Lancaster Work Camp in Trenton Florida gathered in the facility s dayroom around a -inch Samsung flatscreen television They had to share They shared everything They slept in rows of bunk beds with no separation and took turns using four showers and four toilets that had no stalls and no walls But on Sundays Robert demanded the TV be tuned to whatever battle the Denver Broncos were playing And demanded nobody change the channel This was his window into his best friend s journey selected miles away Pat Bryant and Robert Bryant first met playing youth football in the seventh grade in Duval County Florida and have called each other cousin ever since They are not in fact related Or maybe they are They ve never traced the family tree far back enough But they share the same surname and were raised upon an edict that snakes through the streets of Jacksonville Loyalty Robert reported on a call with The Denver Post in early November Loyalty comes first Pat Bryant has never forgotten that from Duval County to Illinois to the Broncos through years fighting the gravitational pull that s torn apart his inner circle In March Robert was arrested for armed robbery and carrying a concealed firearm Through the four-year sentence that followed Bryant added money to an online Securus account so Robert could call him anytime And Robert did He kept me from going insane Robert announced In mid-September Bryant stood at his locker in Denver gesturing at his phone The rookie Broncos wide receiver pulled up his Securus app and scrolled through several contacts at correctional facilities around Florida ROBERT BRYANT WALTER ROSAS Bryant pointed to his notifications where a voicemail from the Florida Department of Corrections awaited See them boys blowing me up right now he advised The Post About eight or nine of his friends from Jacksonville are in jail Bryant estimated Sometimes he tries to help them or their families out Every now and then I ll allegedly send about he stated But that expletive add up With six seven of them boys that expletive add up Bryant trailed off He mumbled looking back at his phone That expletive add up From the day that Robert met him in the seventh grade Bryant desired out of Duval County Family was the foundation and football was the vessel It was easy to fall into the street life in Jacksonville Robert reflected But the street life had nothing for Bryant his father Patrick Sr commented He tried to bring friends along with him He begged them to stay straight Not all of them heeded his words In Denver Bryant has reached heights they all once saw for themselves on the fields of Jacksonville He caught five passes for yards in the Broncos - win over the Chiefs last Sunday and he has established a foothold in head coach Sean Payton s offense Bryant has left Duval County behind but Robert and various others still live through his eyes Bryant has not let them go wherever he s gone This expletive like a dream come true he reported in September I see it as my livelihood This is how I m finna feed my family I gotta do this for a minute This don t last forever My main focus trying to make several sort of mark whether it s on the field off the field whatever it is just leave specific sort of mark So when I hang my jersey up people gon remember who I am Pat Bryant of the Denver Broncos takes the field before the challenge against the Tennessee Titans at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday Sept Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Patrick Bryant Sr once served as the athletic director of the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville He spent long days monitoring games on weekends so his son rarely went straight home after Pop Warner The idle hours after Bryant Jr literally touched a football were often the most of fun he and friends running their imagination across the grass in Duval County They invented their own tournament The rules were simple They unveiled an empty Gatorade bottle and tossed it high in the air Whoever caught it had to run to a nearby gate to count If they got tackled though they had to fling the bottle back into the air They called it throw em up bust em up I used to throw it get tackled throw it up just keep catching that expletive Bryant remembered When I got tired I d throw it up Let somebody catch it Then I was gon tackle their ass When Bryant put on a helmet his Pop Warner gang often struggled with blocking Young kids don t love blocking Bryant was the exception He sometimes waddled up to his father and sought if he needed to play center or guard Then he d sneak up on someone and before it was rendered illegal throw a mean blind-side block The hits invariably made crowds murmur Bryant Sr remembered His son was fearless Bryant Sr explained But he still needed protection The Bryants moved into a gated middle-class neighborhood in Duval County because Bryant Sr knew his kids three boys one girl knew plenty of other kids who were in gangs Bryant had love stability and friends His friends didn t all have the same So he brought them over to his house He met Robert in the seventh grade and Robert still remembers Bryant throwing him a block that sprung him for his first touchdown Bryant met -foot- -pound tackle Walter Rosas and basketball star Alim Denson too The four went on to play football together at Atlantic Coast High in Jacksonville They stayed at our house on the regular Bryant s mother Louanne Harris-Bryant disclosed They came to visit Pat But they ended up being surrogate sons to us Everyone was subject to the rules No drugs No alcohol No going to anyone else s place unless the Bryants knew who what and where Any girls who came over had to sit on the couch with parents in the room So Bryant Sr recalled it was no funny business going around Robert still clings to the memories The four of them in the car after football practice one day bumping a friend s unreleased song before dropping Robert off at his house Crooning Dancing It wasn t no care in the world Robert recalled The city s temptations dragged them out of that car away from innocence Everybody know how Jacksonville is Robert declared How people talking crazy this that this that You feel like you gotta prove a point It pull you deeper into the streets Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant is kissed by his mom after the team's - upset win over Kansas after an NCAA college football encounter Saturday Sept in Champaign Ill AP Photo Charles Rex Arbogast When Bryant was one of his friends died from gun violence Loss of one kind or another has piled up since Rosas once had FCS and Group of Five scholarship offers Atlantic Coast football coach Mike Montemayor recalled He was sentenced to a seven-year prison sentence in on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon Denson was the captain of Atlantic Coast s basketball squad and grew so close with Bryant that they called each other twin He was sentenced to five years in county jail in on multiple counts related to grand theft auto and attempting to flee the scene of a crash Robert who d lost his father at years old stopped caring about football Bryant used to tell Robert that he had to make it for his friends and his dad They wouldn t want you to do this Bryant described him It was a challenge Robert disclosed Going in one ear and out the other I went the whole opposite way When I wish I wish I should ve listened to him Montemayor used to tell Bryant The sooner you leave the better Jacksonville would unfailingly be Jacksonville he declared Nothing would change And Bryant knew football was the exit lane He didn t run much track and field in high school He didn t have blazing speed Eventually his -second -yard dash at the NFL combine became one of the biggest knocks on him as a prospect Instead Bryant honed in on his strengths as a receiver He started catching balls before and after practices to cut down on drops Harris-Bryant recalled I surrounded myself around people like I shouldn t have been around Bryant recalled But I had the courage and the heart to like Nah I m gonna go a different highway ' In January as Bryant was slowly finding his footing in his second year at Illinois Bryant Sr sent his son a news story Denson had died in prison That really shook him up Bryant Sr remembered That shook him up for a while Bryant couldn t save his friends He still tried But he realized how to save himself after he lost his first friend at That s when that hit Bryant commented when inquired about when he knew he demanded out Like Two options to this expletive You re either gonna be dead or in jail In February Broncos receivers coach Keary Colbert took a seat with Bryant at a table at the draft combine in Indianapolis Colbert had a standard list of football questions to get through in minutes the same he solicited every performer on their first meeting They began talking And talking They talked about Jacksonville and Illinois and life in general Colbert realized with minutes almost up that he hadn t petitioned a single question about football He resolved to schedule a follow-up Zoom with Bryant And then they went back to just talking I knew sitting across from him at that little informal table I knew he was a dog Colbert explained The Post Like I can tell he was a dog You know what I mean At that point I knew what he was as a person as a athlete Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant runs the -yard dash at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis Saturday March AP Photo George Walker IV The personality was infectious Colbert recalled The film was too The blocking the toughness and the -foot- frame jumped out to the Broncos staff All the characteristics of the Sean Payton receiver archetype If they don t bite when they re puppies they generally never do Payton noted in October And so you saw it It was not easy at first Payton barked at Bryant multiple times in one open camp practice He yanked him from one crew rep That did nothing to his confidence In one September practice Bryant lined up opposite former Broncos receiver Trent Sherfield on special teams and advised the -year-old veteran that he wouldn t get downfield as Sherfield remembered Even just at the beginning of training camp the one thing I realized about Pat Sherfield notified The Post was that he s not afraid of anything Slowly Bryant has carved out a role in Payton s offense by doing the dirty work He s reported running backs to find on a block if they want to count he announced with glee after an October tournament Bryant has won matchups over the middle with physicality and footwork despite not possessing breakaway speed and has racked up catches for yards in his last four games It s just throw em up bust em up in Denver Different time Different place Same kid If you re good at the sport you gon thrive man Bryant declared when sought in September about compensating for speed If you get to worrying about What advantage I got I mean obviously you watch film That s a different story But when you think about advantages and all that my mindset s like Bruh where we re going I m better than you I don t give a expletive about no stats None of that I m a better football participant than you Pat Bryant of the Denver Broncos celebrates catching a touchdown pass from Bo Nix during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday Oct Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post On Sunday Oct Robert Bryant and the members of Lancaster Work Camp sat in the dayroom watching Broncos-Cowboys on that Samsung Late in the second quarter Robert saw Bryant isolate to the left side of the formation His excitement rose Robert watched Bryant burst off the line beat his man and haul in a -yard ball from Bo Nix for his first NFL touchdown He watched his friend turn to the crowd at Empower Field and hit the Mile High Salute a move that instantly made Bryant a fan favorite in Denver Across the country in Trenton Robert started jumping up and down and cheering so fiercely that a correctional officer stepped in You re yelling too loud Robert recalled the officer saying Listen man Robert replied That right there s my brother He just scored I m almost finna cry Robert declared Related Articles Renck Bo Nix-Sean Payton connection will answer biggest question Are Broncos a Super Bowl squad Around the NFL Shedeur Sanders ultimately gets practice reps with Browns and shot at redemption in Las Vegas Grading The Week Broncos Avs Wil Lutz CU soccer DU soccer giving Denver fans reasons to be thankful Broncos kicker Wil Lutz agree to three-year contract extension source confirms How Broncos DL John Franklin-Myers is mentoring rookie Sai vion Jones Go take my job Not everyone picked up when Robert called across his four years in jail Bryant did He flipped the camera on video calls and displayed his friend around Illinois facility You almost home Bryant communicated his friend When you get out come up here Rosas cries almost every night now thinking of Bryant three years into his seven-year sentence at the Jackson Correctional Institution in Malone Florida A year and a half ago Rosas got into a prison fight and was stabbed times he notified The Post Family members and Bryant held their breath The first phone call he made to Bryant after a month in solitary confinement both haunts and galvanizes Rosas He hears the pain still tearing through his best friend s voice What are you doing bro I already lost Alim I thought I lost you too There s a few times I ve felt down in here man Rosas recounted The Post his voice trembling over a jail phone I needed to give up so much man But I know I know I can t do it For him I gotta do it for him Alim already died in here I gotta make it home Bryant still talks to Rosas almost every day and the two have made a plan for the -foot- Rosas to become Bryant s personal defense guard when his sentence is done in Almost three years after Denson s death the -year-old Bryant is now the godfather of his old friend s daughter too He reliably reported us like Man we good Robert recalled We re gon make it out of here Just keep playing sports We gon make it ' Sure enough he made it Robert added And he ain t leave nobody behind On Nov at a m Robert Bryant was published from Lancaster Work Camp after successfully completing his sentence He got home and got his phone The first person who called him was Pat Bryant Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis