Bridge City's Bryant tops Falcons’ kick charts

Daver Rogers - For The Record

Bridge City High grad Matt Bryant became the Atlanta Falcons’ all-time kick scorer in last Sunday’s National Football League game against Green Bay.

With 4:28 left in the first quarter of Sunday’s contest against Green Bay, Matt Bryantlink broke Morten Andersen’s franchise record in points by notching his 807th point as a Falcon.

It took Bryant 103 games to reach that mark; Andersen gained 806 points in 124 contests.

“It’d be awesome,” Bryant said last week about breaking the record “It’s not something you really set out to accomplish, but when it gets closer, I guess other people will tell you what’s going on. So yeah, it’d be neat to have that feather in your hat, so to speak.”

Bryant has made 16 of 17 field goals this season and all 25 extra points. His field goal percentage as a Falcon (88.1) is the highest in team history among those who made 50-plus attempts.

Now 41, Bryant has spent 15 years in the NFL, eight in Atlanta. He has played for five teams in all, hitting on 317 of 371 career field goals (85.4 percent). He has 1,407 career kick-scoring points in the NFL.

He began his NFL career with the New York Giants in 2002 after a standout career at Baylor University. Besides the Giants, he played for Indianapolis, Miami and Tampa Bay before signing with the Falcons in 2009.

He is No. 2 all-time kick scorer for Tampa Bay after playing just four seasons there.