National Football Foundation

An active participant and a product of the National Football Foundation's Play It Smart program at Glenville Academic Center, Bryant Browning symbolizes everything right about high school football. His reputation for sportsmanship, competitive energy and drive for academic excellence created a record that simply defined him as the best in the Midwest Region. 

"Bryant was the triple crown winner from our [Midwest] chapter, with maximum credentials in all three areas" said Tim Gleason, the chapter president of the Northeast Ohio Chapter. 

Browning excelled in three sports: basketball, track and football, garnering All-Ohio and First Team All-State accolades for his efforts on the gridiron. In the classroom, Browning claimed the valedictorian position from a class of 325 students with a more than perfect 4.1 GPA. A high honor roll student, he also earned recognition as a member of the National Honor Society. 

As senior class president, Browning won the adoration of his peers while also setting a positive example by volunteering as an active participant in several food distribution projects and by tutoring local elementary school students. Outside of school, he held positions as a Christian Athletes Huddle Leader and a volunteer at his church. 

Browning earned a football scholarship to Ohio State University and served as a starter for three seasons and a team captain in 2010. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent after the 2011 NFL Draft and played with the Panthers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers from 2011-14. Browning is currently a member of the Miami Dolphins. 

Launched in 1998, Play It Smart trains "academic coaches" to work with high school football teams in underserved areas during the entire school year, taking the transferable life skills learned on the field and applying them in the classroom and the community. A leader in the program, Browning becomes the second Play It Smart participant to be recognized as a National High School Scholar-Athlete, joining Michigan's Brandent Englemon as graduates claiming the prestigious honor. 

"His high school was one of the first in the country to be selected as part of the program" said Gleason. "It is so refreshing to see the fruits of this effort blossom into a young man of Bryant Browning's caliber."