Creating His Own Destiny: Pat Bryant Leaves Lasting Legacy at Illinois

Growing up, Pat Bryant wanted to be just like his older siblings. The youngest of four, Bryant got involved in sports at a young age because that’s what his older siblings did. He played football because that’s what his older brothers did.

With a 13-year age gap between his oldest brother and himself, Bryant modeled a lot of his childhood after the same things his older siblings did.

“I just fell in love with the game of football after watching my brothers grow up playing, going to their high school games, and just reliving those same dreams,” Pat Bryant said. “The same dreams they had, I'm doing that now.”

After recognizing his potential to play college football in pursuit of the goal of making an NFL roster, Bryant has now strayed away from his role-model older siblings and carved his own path in his fourth and final season at Illinois.

“I've never really been the type to follow the hype. I've always wanted to create my own path and create my own destiny,” Pat Bryant said. “Coming here, I had the same mindset. My end goal is to get to the NFL. If you're good, the NFL will find you. My main focus was to try to put the program on the map and try to make my own destiny, so that when people say my name it'll be remembered as something special. They believed in me, and it was history from there.”

The first time Pat Bryant stepped on the football field at the age of 3, his parents vividly remember watching him run in the opposite direction in the middle of his first flag football game. His dad, Patrick Bryant Sr., served as his youngest son’s coach, and he understandably had some doubts.

“I thought he was going to be a mama’s boy, but he turned out to be something special,” Patrick Bryant Sr. said. “He just kept developing and kept getting better and better each year. He was a leader, even at a very young age; people looked up to him to make a big catch or make a big play.”

Trying pretty much any sport that was offered in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, Pat Bryant played everything from football to golf, from basketball to tennis, from soccer to baseball. Basketball was the early favorite, and Pat would make shots on 10-foot rims with ease as a 5-year-old.

Scoring goals in soccer also came naturally for Pat Bryant, whose athleticism allowed him to find success in every sport he played. That comes as no surprise, though, as Pat Bryant inherited his parents’ athletic genes and was raised in an athletic household. 

“Everybody has played sports; even their mom played soccer for a little bit. Our daughter was a cheerleader. It was an athletic family,” Patrick Bryant Sr. said. “Every Friday and Saturday, we were doing something, whether it was football, basketball, soccer, or cheerleading. We stayed busy. I think it was just natural for him to continue to do that and continue that part of what we are as a family."

Once Pat Bryant entered middle school, he began focusing more and more on football, a sport his brothers both played in high school and his second-oldest brother, Brandon, played at the collegiate level. Still using basketball as a way to stay in shape and have fun with friends, Pat began working even harder to become the best athlete he could possibly be.

It was not until high school that Pat realized just how good he truly was. The aha moment came when he was invited to attend a camp that featured some of the top recruits in Florida, a state that oozes with talent. Holding his own and impressing the large number of college coaches in attendance, Pat Bryant saw his recruitment take off.

“My freshman year of high school, I was just playing football for fun. I didn't understand what offers were. I knew you could go to college for it, but I didn't really know how I worked,” Pat Bryant said. “After leaving that camp, that's when I realized that I was actually pretty good.”

During his sophomore year, Pat Bryant had already collected double-digit scholarship offers from programs across the country, including several power-conference institutions. Pat’s mom, Louanne Harris-Bryant, called the recruitment process “surreal and overwhelming,” but she could not have been happier and prouder to see her youngest child succeed.

“You watch your child and you know in your eyes that your child is great, but to have recruiters coming to the school and mailing stuff to us, it was very overwhelming,” Harris-Bryant said. “I'm really big on humility and staying focused, so I didn't want all of that to get to his head. I wanted him to still understand that, ‘Yes, the schools want you, but continue to put in the hard work and continue to do the things that you need to do to get to where you want to be.’”

Throughout the football recruiting process, Pat Bryant continued to play basketball as his secondary sport. He usually missed the first half of his hoops season due to injuries he sustained while playing football. 

One year, though, was different. Despite being told he needed surgery after suffering a torn labrum during football season, he opted to wait and instead continued playing basketball while wearing a shoulder brace.

To put it bluntly, Pat Bryant was a football player playing basketball. He said he fouled out in “at least half” of the games he played, most commonly getting called for offensive fouls on charges while driving to the basket. He averaged “8-10 points per game,” but he blamed his lack of production on his foul struggles.

“It was kind of hard to rack up points when I was always in foul trouble,” Pat Bryant said.

His dedication on the hardwood mirrored his dedication on the gridiron. One standout performance included a game in which Pat scored a touchdown on offense and then turned around and scored a touchdown on defense a few minutes later.

Another such performance was even more impressive and came in a loss, but it was the situation that demonstrated Pat’s unwavering commitment to his team. After the game was postponed due to lightning, Atlantic Coast High School was forced to play an early-morning contest the following morning in what Harris-Bryant called one of the hottest games the team had ever played.

Due to the unfavorable conditions, Pat Bryant collapsed in the end zone due to heat exhaustion after registering his third touchdown of the day.

“That was a game that he put everything into,” Harris-Bryant said.

All of Pat Bryant’s hard work culminated in his decision to announce his commitment to Illinois on June 14, 2020, and he joined the program in the summer of 2021.

Looking to make an immediate impact, Pat Bryant became the 14th Fighting Illini student-athlete in program history to start at least three games at wide receiver as a true freshman.

“My main focus was I wanted to go to the school where I could come in and have an immediate effect on the team and on the outcome of our season,” Pat Bryant said. “Bringing in a new coaching staff, it's kind of hard to rebuild, but everything worked out pretty perfectly.”

After recording six catches for 98 yards across 10 games as a freshman, Pat Bryant tallied his first collegiate touchdown in the 2022 season opener. Making 11 starts and finishing with 453 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 34 catches in his sophomore season, Pat Bryant was only getting started. 

As a junior, he tallied career-highs in receptions (43), receiving yards (560), and touchdowns (7). His seven receiving scores ranked tied for fourth in the Big Ten and put him joint-ninth in the Illinois record books for single-season touchdown receptions.

Ahead of his final season with the Orange and Blue in 2024, Pat Bryant was voted by his teammates and coaches to serve as a team captain for the first time in his career.

“It means a lot, especially knowing that I've been here for four years, fought with these guys all four years, and never had the thought of leaving,” Pat Bryant said. “For them to have faith in me as a leader, it really means a lot. I've kind of always been a leader growing up, whatever sport I was in, whether it was by my actions or my words. I wasn't expecting it, but hearing that they believed in me meant a lot. Being a leader for this team, especially a team like this that's trying to do something special, really means a lot.”

Added Harris-Bryant: “It just solidifies all his hard work and his dedication to the team, to the coaching staff, and to the university as a whole. He's worked exceptionally hard to be where he's at. I just think it's an awesome honor that his teammates trust him and look to him to be a leader. Leaders aren't born; they're made. In his case, I feel like he put himself in that position through all his hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and drive. In turn, they honored him by selecting him as a captain.”

On Saturday, Pat Bryant will play his final game at Memorial Stadium, a place he has called home for the last four years. Both excited and emotional to run out onto his home turf for the final time as an Illini, Pat knows he has left behind a lasting legacy that will remain at Illinois for years to come.

But, there is still work to be done. With three regular-season contests and a bowl game still on the horizon, Pat Bryant wants to continue adding to his legacy in his final few games with the Orange and Blue.

“I just want to be remembered as a tough, smart, dependable player and a guy who makes things happen to me when things need to happen,” Pat Bryant said. “I want to leave my mark as being a team-first guy and try to create history and do something that hasn't been done in a long time. When people say my name, I want to be remembered as something special."