Rick Don Bryan was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League for 10 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s.
16 Facts About Rick Bryan
1.
2.
Rick Bryan attended Coweta High School in Coweta, Oklahoma where he earned All-State honors in 1980.
3.
Rick Bryan began playing linebacker in high school but was moved to defensive tackle by one of his coaches, Ben Wasson.
4.
Rick Bryan was named to the Tulsa World's All-century High school football team in 1999.
5.
Rick Bryan was a consensus All-American at the University of Oklahoma in 1982 and 1983.
6.
Rick Bryan was Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year in 1982 and Academic All-Conference from 1981 to 1983.
7.
Rick Bryan owns the school record for career tackles by a defensive lineman, ranking him ahead of Kevin Murphy and Lee Roy Selmon.
8.
Rick Bryan is OU's eighth leading career tackler regardless of position.
9.
Rick Bryan was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the ninth overall pick in the 1984 NFL draft.
10.
Rick Bryan was the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1984.
11.
Rick Bryan 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.
12.
Rick Bryan eventually was forced into retirement by a number of injuries, including neck and back pains and a popped Achilles tendon.
13.
Rick Bryan was diagnosed with a spinal nerve injury in 1989, but kept playing and started sixteen games in each of the next two seasons.
14.
Rick Bryan died on July 25,2009, at the age of 47, in his home in Coweta.
15.
Rick Bryan had suffered from congestive heart failure and his family said he died of a heart attack.
16.
Rick Bryan now has a sign dedicated to him on the road outside the Coweta High School.