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It has been since the Pittsburgh Steelers 2015 AFC Divisional game loss to the Denver Broncos that fans have seen Martavis Bryant on the field. After being suspended for the 2016 season due to violating the league’s substance abuse policy, the time has come for Bryant to return to the gridiron with his teammates, but it hasn’t always been easy.
Throughout training camp Bryant has been under the guise of “conditional reinstatement”, which means he can workout, attend meetings and other non-practice activities with the team, but cannot practice or participate in any preseason games until fully reinstated.
While the Steelers have been at Training Camp, it has been a day-by-day fiasco wondering who was at fault, and whether Bryant will be reinstated soon, or if the NFL will drag their feet further on the proceedings.
Well, the time has come for Bryant to officially rejoin his teammates, as he has been fully reinstated by the NFL.
GM Kevin Colbert had this to say, via the team’s official website:
“Martavis Bryant has been informed by the NFL that he is now permitted to participate in all preseason activities, including practices and games. He will continue to be evaluated as to his readiness to participate in regular-season activities under the terms of his conditional reinstatement.”
This is tremendous news for the Steelers, and the only thing left for the black and gold to lock away before the regular season is getting Le’Veon Bell to sign his franchise tag tender and report back to Pittsburgh.
It will happen, and when it does, the team will finally have all of their ‘Killer B’s’ back on the field for the first time in a long time.
(Editor’s Note: Although Colbert’s statement mentions the league still considering him “conditionally reinstated”, the fact he is allowed to participate in all team activities, including practices and games, makes the full reinstatement nothing but semantics as long as Bryant does what he is supposed to off the field. The NFL will likely re-evaluate his case prior to Week 1, where, barring him doing his job off the field, he will be fully reinstated.)