Callahan Bright

Callahan Bright (born January 16, 1987) is a former American football player. A standout defensive lineman in high school, his career derailed during college. After one season at Division II Shaw University, Bright entered the 2010 NFL draft but was not selected. He had brief stints with various Arena Football League (AFL) teams, and last played for the Wichita Wild.

Early life A native of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Bright graduated from Welsh Valley Middle School, and then attended Glen Mills School in Thornbury for two years, a school for court-adjudicated youths. Bright said he was sent there because of “behavioral problems.” As a junior, he transferred to Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, where he was an All-American defensive lineman, while also playing lacrosse and wrestling in the unlimited division at several freestyle tournaments. After recording 86 tackles and 14 sacks in his junior season, Bright was named to USA Todays “2004 preseason Super 25 players”.

Constantly drawing double- and triple-teams by opponents, Bright's dominance was noted by scouts. Tom Lemming of ESPN called him “the most dominating high school defensive lineman that I've seen in five years,” referring to Shaun Cody. At the Elite College Combine in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Bright dominated in one-on-one drills, “tossing” five-star offensive lineman (and future first round NFL draft pick) Eugene Monroe “aside like a rag doll.” “He was so powerful. He always had great leverage and got under taller players, and he had one of the best bull rushes I've ever seen,” said Rivals.com analyst Mike Farrell. he could not participate due to a suspension that also caused him to miss his final high school game. Only DeMarcus Granger of Kimball High School in Dallas was ranked in front of him. Recruited by dozens of schools, Bright narrowed his choices down to Miami, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida State, Texas A&M, Purdue—where his older brother Eugene played defensive end—and Southern California. He only took two official visits, to Florida State and Texas A&M, in December 2004. During National Signing Day, Bright committed to Florida State on ESPN News. Alongside wide receiver prospect Fred Rouse, Bright was considered to be the cornerstone of the Seminoles' 2005 recruiting class.

College career Apart from his official visit, Bright never stepped onto the FSU campus in Tallahassee, Florida. Bright was ranked as the No. 1 prep school prospect by Scout.com. While the Seminoles had a “painfully thin defensive front,”

Opting for the junior college route, he enrolled at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas, to play football. He went through practice in 2007 but left the school before the season began. The birth of his son altered his career, causing him to take a job as a garbage man in Radnor, Pennsylvania, so he could also take night classes at Delaware County Community College. He then decided to bypass his senior year and to enter the 2010 NFL draft. According to Mike Mayock, there was “some interest in him as a late-draftable/preferred free-agent type.”

While seen as a “prototypical nose guard for teams using the 3–4 defensive scheme,” Bright's background issues scared many teams off.

Arena Football League Bright then entered the Arena Football League (AFL), first signing with the Jacksonville Sharks and then, over the course of a year and a half, he played for the Philadelphia Soul, New Orleans VooDoo and the Pittsburgh Power before signing with the Wichita Wild midway through the 2012 season. Playing in all seven of the Wild's remaining games last season, Bright tallied 33 total tackles, one and a half sacks and two forced fumbles.