Former NFL player Desmond Bryant opens up about tackling addiction

CBS Mornings Former NFL player Desmond Bryant opens up about how he tackled addiction: "My test is my testimony" .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-cbs-mornings.jpg'); } By David Begnaud David Begnaud CBS News Contributor David Begnaud is a CBS News contributor and previously served as the lead national correspondent for "CBS Mornings," based in New York City. Read Full Bio David Begnaud April 8, 2026 / 6:02 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google In February 2013, a photo of Desmond Bryant went viral. Instead of signing a $35 million contract with the Cleveland Browns, the former Harvard player woke up in a jail cell.  At the time, Bryant says he thought sticking his tongue out was a good idea. It quickly made headlines. "I came out of jail the next morning and not only was my mugshot all over, Photoshops had already begun, memes were already trending," he said.That same relentless drive that got him to the NFL followed him to the bottle. And after injuries piled up in Cleveland, the Browns voided his contract. He lost the game that gave him everything. Bryant says that's when he fell into the darkness. "Losing football is a devastating thing. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do. I didn't really have a purpose," he said. The former NFL defensive end turned to drugs and alcohol.He tried going back to Harvard to finish his degree, but that didn't last. "I've always felt like Superman," Bryant said. "I could do anything. And all of a sudden drinking is something that you cannot be." Then the pandemic happened, and things escalated. "I was in that house by myself, drinking to the worst," Bryant said. It wasn't until he worked with a therapist that he understood how lost he really was. "And with that conversation came the realization, talking to myself in that moment, I wanted to die, he said.Since that moment, Bryant started working his way back to living through yoga. "When I...