Houston (AFP) - Matt Bryant spent four years waiting for his chance to break into the National Football League. Fifteen years later, the Atlanta Falcons kicker will attempt to cap a career of remarkable longevity with a Super Bowl victory.
It has been a long and winding route to the biggest stage of all for the 41-year-old, who worked in a Texas pawn shop after going undrafted before finally entering the NFL through the back door.
After a brief spell in the wilderness of the indoor Arena Football League for the Iowa Barnstormers, Bryant joined the New York Giants who promptly farmed him out to NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder and Frankfurt Galaxy.