Humble beginnings aside, Bryant sticks with Jets

He was Rod Bryant as a junior on the University of Idaho football team. He was Roderick Bryant as a senior (“My mom wanted me to use my full name,” he said at the time).

Today he’s Roderick ‘Game Day’ Bryant, an unlikely member of the New York Jets.

“For a lot of cornerbacks, they get in this league and all of a sudden the names on the jerseys are guys they’ve watched on TV and they’re kind of going, ‘Ohhh,’ ” said Jets coach Herman Edwards. “For him, I don’t know if he didn’t have a TV or not, but he’s just covering guys. He doesn’t care who’s out there. He’s just playing.”

As an undrafted free agent, Bryant’s odds of making the Jets were tiny to begin with. The odds worsen with the fact that New York had 10 draft picks and as many as eight corners in camp.

“When I came in I kind of looked around to see what my chances were and I figured they would be very low because they were already kind of stocked,” Bryant told The News Journal (N.Y.).

Edwards likens Bryant to, well, a young Edwards. Edwards was an undrafted free agent who made Philadelphia’s roster.

“When you’ve got veteran guys on offense watching the game, saying, ‘Is that Game Day who made that tackle?’… They started liking him and I’m talking about some of your seasoned veterans,” Edwards said. “He’s kind of like a folk hero in the locker room right now. You like guys like that.”

Bryant was a starter off-and-on for two years at Idaho. He grew up in Maryland before playing two seasons at West Hills Junior College in Coalinga, Calif. He had four career interceptions and returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown.

“You have all these computers and these scouts testing guys, they go to these big universities, play on national television,” Edwards said. “He’s a guy from Idaho, a JC transfer, grew up in Washington (D.C.). He was at Southwest Somewhere, a JC _ I know exactly where it is out in the desert. Ain’t nothing out there.

“It’s a great story for a guy. He’s worked hard to achieve that.”

• Bryant isn’t the only undrafted Vandal who made an NFL 53-man roster. Brian Howard is a St. Louis Ram, listed as the backup nose tackle.

Eaton alive

Former Washington State Cougar Chad Eaton was out of football last season and expected to be a role player on the Dallas Cowboys defensive line this season. Now, he’s listed as a starter for the season opener against Minnesota.

The suspension of Leonardo Carson for violating the NFL conduct policy opened the door for Eaton to start. He sat out last season with a knee injury.

Notes

Ex-Cougar D.D. Acholonu, who has moved from end to linebacker, is on Houston’s practice squad. … Former WSU lineman Joey Hollenbeck is on Seattle’s practice squad. … Former Vandals linebacker Jordan Kramer, son of Green Bay Packers great Jerry Kramer, is on Tennessee’s practice squad. … Kurt Sigler, a Coeur d’Alene High and Eastern Washington University grad, is with Winnipeg in the CFL. He was listed on the practice roster for the Blue Bombers’ game last Sunday. … Ex-Eagle Bashir Levingston, who plays for Toronto, was the 2003 CFL special teams player of the year.