Trash-talking corner backs his words

Line up across from Leonard Bryant on a Saturday game day and you'd better be prepared to get an earful. For the sophomore cornerback, trash-talking is as natural a part of football as tackling.\n"I always come up to 'em," Bryant said, "and first thing I say is 'Hey man, why aren't you looking at me. You scared? What are you, tired? You tired? I'm telling you, I'm going to make a play. It's going to be on ESPN -- Dee da dee, dee da dee (ESPN theme).' I'm from Florida. I'm from the same area as Deion (Sanders), Jevon (Kearse) and Edgerrin (James). That's just how we do it down South."\nBryant, however, is beginning to let his play do the talking at IU. And he's showing that he's not all talk -- both on and off the field. After starting only one game last year, Bryant has started all but one of IU's six games so far this season, forcing a pair of fumbles, recovering one and intercepting a pass.\nUp until this year, Bryant played mostly special teams. This year he still does, routinely making jarring hits on punt returns, but has developed into one of IU's starting defensive backs.\nIU secondary coach Charles McMillan said Bryant brings an energy to the team, both in terms of play and personality.\n"Personality-wise, he's just an energetic kid," McMillan said. "Sometimes I joke with him that he needs Ritalin to slow down. He's so hyperactive, he works hard and he goes 100 miles per hour at everything. He doesn't bring experience to the team, but he brings the ability to play full speed."\nBryant, who grew up in Immokalee, Fla., as the oldest of eight children, came to IU after a high school athletic career in which he produced offensively and defensively in football, playing both cornerback and slot receiver. In his senior year, Bryant picked off three passes, recovered a pair of fumbles and scored five touchdowns on offense.\nWhen it came time to choose a college, Bryant let his mother decide which combination of academics and athletics provided the best fit. Out of five recruiting trips the two went on, she chose IU, and Bryant redshirted for the football team the next year.\nBetween then and now, Bryant said he's developed a whole new understanding of the game.\n"When I first got here, in one word, I was raw," he said. "I had no technique. I didn't understand the concept of football as a defensive game. I just knew how to play man coverage full speed. But through last year and this year, I understand defense and football a lot better."\nFellow cornerback, senior Duane Stone, said he too has seen Bryant improve over the last two years. \n"Leonard is coming along well," he said. "He's maturing, he's starting to understand the game a little bit better. He's got an aggressive type of edge to him, and that's good to see."\nStill, football is only one aspect of Bryant's life at IU. He said he takes academics just as seriously as the team, which is necessary because he is a student in the highly competitive Kelley School of Business. \nBetween his obligations to the team and his work in the classroom, Bryant said it's sometimes hard to find time for both. \n"I take just as much pride in my school work and my academics as my athletics, and it's kind of frustrating for me not to be a 4.0 student because I know I'm capable of it," he said. "But it's taught me how to cope with things and deal with the realities of life. It's definitely a challenge. But if (senior) Joe Gonzalez can do it and Gibran Hamdan can do it, then Leonard Bryant can do it."\nBryant has already seen results on both ends -- academics and athletics. In addition to aspiring to a career in the NFL, Bryant has intentions of becoming a corporate banker and would like to get his master's degree. He held an internship with Wells Fargo last summer in San Francisco and already has an offer on the table for a position with them after graduation.\n"I want to leave myself open to a lot of options," Bryant said. "I have a lot of aspirations. There's a lot of things I want to do, so I'm not limiting myself to just one thing. But if I had to prioritize my top three, it would be a three-way tie."\nUltimately, Bryant said he'll approach life after graduation with the same aggressiveness he brings to playing and talking on the field.\n"You can't sell yourself short," he said, "and I'm not going to."\n-- Contact staff writer Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.