Brightful’s second chance
Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 30, 2005
The cold sting of reality slapped Lamont Brightful so many times that he eventually lost count. Last fall was like an entire shelf of humble pies.
First came the September release by the Baltimore Ravens, the team he had given two years of loyal service. A few weeks later, the Miami Dolphins set him loose. Tryouts with a number of other teams went for naught.
So reality has taken on a whole new meaning for Brightful, the former Mariner High School star and fledging cornerback/return man. Even though he is thriving in NFL Europe – where his season ends Saturday – Brightful is careful not to get too overzealous.
“No matter how much good you do over here, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be on (an NFL) team,” Brightful said via phone call from Frankfurt, Germany. “It’s more a guarantee that you’re going to make it to training camp.”
After being picked up by the New York Giants in January, and subsequently sent to NFL Europe, Brightful has made the most of his opportunity. He ranks first in the league in kickoff returns and is second in the league with four interceptions. Brightful leads the Frankfurt Galaxy with 11 passes defensed. He returned the opening kickoff of a Week 3 game for a touchdown, and helped clinch a Week 5 victory with two interceptions in the final two minutes.
Rather than grouse about his first failed venture in the NFL, Brightful is taking advantage of his second chance.
“I knew it was going to be a long haul back,” he said. “I knew I was going to have to work extra hard. But that’s no different for me. I’ve always had to work harder than everyone else. That’s what happens when you’re a smaller guy (5-foot-10, 160 pounds) or a Proposition 48 or a guy from Eastern Washington (University). I’m used to it being harder. That’s the way I like it.”
From the time he graduated from Mariner, Brightful has been fighting an uphill battle. He was ineligible as a freshman at EWU for academic reasons (officially known as Proposition 48) before having a standout career as a wide receiver and return man. Brightful was then converted to defensive back after the Ravens took him in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL draft.
Brightful carved out a two-year career with the Ravens, but was released last September because the team liked rookie return man B.J. Sams, who went on to finish third in the AFC in punt return average (10.5 yards).
The Miami Dolphins were quick to snap up Brightful off the waiver wire and install him as their punt returner. But a disastrous game in which he fumbled three times ended that marriage after only two weeks.
He wound up living in Las Vegas, working out four hours a day and waiting for phone calls. While there was plenty of interest, no one was willing to sign Brightful during the season. Not until after the regular season, when the Giants offered to allocate him to NFL Europe, did Brightful finally end up on another team.
“The first time I got cut, I was picked up so quick that I didn’t really think about it,” he said. “But after the second time, it set in. I was upset. I got a lot of support from my friends and family, and that helped. I figured, if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.”
With a degree in sports and business management, and a dream of one day working for an NFL agent, Brightful has already started looking toward the future. After the way football treated him last fall, the 26-year-old can’t help but wonder what might happen next.
“Of course I’ve thought about it; you’ve got to pay the bills,” he said. “Luckily, I saved up enough to be able to work out last year without having to take another job.
” (The end) is always in your mind. I know it’s not going to last forever. If you’re not one of those players who gets the millions of dollars, you’ll have to go to work sometime. Football’s not forever.”
Whatever the future holds, football remains a part of Brightful’s present – even if he had to go halfway around the world just to keep the dream alive.
