Bryant fine without title hardware from Clemson: 'A ring is a ring'
Kelly Bryant says he harbors no ill will toward Clemson for not offering him a national championship ring as a result of his decision to leave the team during the season.
"A ring is a ring," the senior quarterback said Friday, according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic. "I'm in Missouri, and I don't play any mind to that. Everybody else can make a story about it, which it's not really a story."
Bryant started the first four games of the 2018 season - all wins - for Clemson before he was benched in favor of Trevor Lawrence. Rather than riding the pine for the rest of the year, Bryant watched from home as the Tigers surged to their second national title in three years.
After the season, he transferred to Missouri.
"He wasn't on the team," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Wednesday about his decision to not give Bryant any jewelry. "You've gotta be on the team to get a ring. I love Kelly and appreciate what he did for us, but he decided to move on."
Bryant threw for 3,338 yards with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions during his career at Clemson. He led the program to an ACC championship and a College Football Playoff berth in 2017 as a first-time starter.
At the time of his benching last year, Bryant called the demotion a "slap in the face."