The year and a half Antonio Bryant was in Cleveland, he was not considered a trouble maker by the media. He was the best healthy receiver they had, but that was damning with faint praise. When he left, it was with a shrug from the populace. Just chalking it up to him not being part of the present Browns’ strategy and planning in letting him go. Considering their two primary receiving targets are coming off broken legs (Edwards and Winslow, Jr.) it seems a little strange to me. Of course the former top Pitt receiver got a nice 4-year, $15 million deal from San Francisco. This being mini-camp time, Bryant is saying and doing all the right things (Hell, so is Terrell Owens, so what does that really mean?) (hat tip to Jon).

Bryant wasn’t the ideal replacement for Lloyd, not with Antwaan Randle El and Joe Jurevicius available in the same free-agency pool. But the 49ers have upgraded substantially, and if Bryant follows through on his promises of even-tempered maturity, the team will have its first real game-breaking threat since Terrell Owens left San Francisco.

That “if” could be one of the great dramas of the season.

The 49ers say they did their homework on Bryant and that past coaches have vouched for him. Bryant insists that he has learned to set aside the frustrations of football before they become explosive.

“I try to live my life drama-free,” he said.

That may be impossible. Bryant’s intensity is palpable. On the practice field Friday, he fidgeted frequently between plays, his energy overflowing. In an interview afterward, he was both cerebral and emotional, often expressing himself in metaphors and aphorisms. (His position coach in college, recognizing Bryant’s fondness for witty sayings, once gave him a book of quips and quotes.)

I’m kind of surprised that an article in a San Francisco paper on Bryant wouldn’t get a quote from his former coach now up in Stanford. Still, it’s obvious the writer wants to believe Bryant is different from his rep and the jersey tossing incident at Parcells.