The Wolfpacker

94 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER M y first close association with NC State athletics was on the wrong end of a heated conversation, years before I ever moved to Raleigh. The massive protagonist of this one-sided conversation was my high school biology teacher and football coach, former Wolfpack All-American defensive lineman Dennis Byrd. He was a mountain of a man with weak knees and a short temper. This encounter was on a fall afternoon on about the 10-yard line of the football field at West Lincoln High School, a place that saw more sorrow than success un- less you count the award-winning band. We all knew Mr. Byrd was big, but there were only back-row whispers about his status as a college football player. I never knew he was NC State's first three-time first-team All- ACC selection, its first consensus two-time All-America pick and a first-round draft pick of the Boston Patriots until long after he left our school and moved to Elizabeth City, N.C. At the time, I was a squirrelly high school sophomore, a 165-pound center trying to move up from the junior varsity team. We were practicing our goal-line offense, and there was apparently a fumble on the snap to the quarterback. I had no idea the ball was on the ground; I should have. At least in the eyes of Coach Byrd. He came charging toward the offensive line, snorting smoke like a bull in a Bugs Bunny cartoon and inventing new expletives with every second step. And I thought I knew a lot back then. When he got to me, he grabbed my face- mask, lifted me up off the ground so that my feet dangled like a marionette and suggested, with as much kindness as he could muster with a face so red, that I might want to be aware of where the ball was at all times in the future. The next time, he intimated, he might not be so gentle. Such was the passion for football of Coach Byrd, one of the 10 newest selections for the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame, announced in mid-April. With his reddish blonde mus- tache and the male pattern baldness, some- times it was hard to tell where the mad ended and the hair began. The pickup basketball games in our tiny gym were epic, especially if Coach Byrd got boxed out on a rebound. Woe be to the fresh- man who fell behind when we bear-crawled up the hill next to the stadium after practice. I've been fortunate to know most of the liv- ing inductees into the now 30-member Hall of Fame, and a few of those who have passed on. And, even though I am no longer work- ing in the athletics department, I've enjoyed being part of the Hall of Fame election com- mittee, still serving as the unofficial historian of athletics. Each of the first two years, when Byrd's name came up, I tried to stay out of the con- versation, to remain objective, as quarter- backs Roman Gabriel and Philip Rivers, run- ning back Ted Brown, offensive lineman Jim Ritcher, wide receiver Torry Holt and head coach Earle Edwards — all the obvious foot- ball choices — were elected. No question, they all deserved to go first. But I had no qualms about pushing for Byrd to be a part of this year's class. For years, he was an all but forgotten all-star whose jersey No. 77 hung between the decks at Carter-Finley Stadium and who attended games when he could, but did not receive the same attention as some other former players. Part of that is due to his shortened pro- fessional career. While he was a first-round pick, the Patriots didn't know that Byrd had suffered a significant knee injury during his senior year at NC State, on a below-the-belt hit long after the whistle sounded. He played in just 14 games for the Patriots during the 1968 season, but was never the same fear- somely fast player he was in college. After that, he moved back to his hometown to be near his ailing father. He became a high school biology teacher and football coach for more than 30 years. "Through the years, a lot of people came up to him at games and said 'Dennis, I watched you play at State, and it was the greatest time,'" said his widow, Kim Byrd. "That, to Dennis, meant everything. He was so touched when people shared their memo- ries. That really did make him feel good." Byrd liked to fish and to hunt, so when his blood pressure got too high to coach — and it skyrocketed every Friday night when he was coaching our 3-8 team — he moved to the coast to spend time in a duck blind instead of calling a referee blind. I lost touch with him for many years, but would see him occasionally at Carter-Finley, where his west-side seats faced his retired jersey. When he was elected into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, I of- fered to contribute the one thing I thought I could add — I wrote his program biography. By then, however, former NC State senior associate athletics director David Horning was eager to get Byrd into the College Hall of Fame. Horning, a former Pack football player, didn't know Byrd well, but they became bet- ter acquainted during the three-year process to get him elected. As a consensus first-team All-American, he had the credentials to get in, but not a lot of people knew about him. Horning turned it into a quest, and in 2010 Byrd was finally selected for college foot- ball's ultimate honor. To get ready for the December enshrinement after he was elected in the spring, Byrd wanted to have the back surgery he had put off on several occasions so he could travel to New York City for a full weekend of activity. In the middle of his operation, Byrd had a heart attack. He died on July 23, 2010, at the age of 63. It was sad that Byrd's family had to walk onto the field at Carter-Finley without him on the day he was recognized for his ultimate achievement and that he was enshrined post- humously. Everything happened so suddenly, and over the course of six months the family endured a lot with its loss. But there is joy with this selection. The school where he had his most success, where he was a superstar, is honoring his groundbreaking achievements. "This would have meant so much to him," Kim Byrd said. "It rates on the same level as the College Football Hall of Fame. NC State meant everything to Dennis." ■ ■ PACK PERSPECTIVE Dennis Byrd Was One Of NC State's All-Time Greats On Defense Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker. He can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Byrd was the Wolfpack's first three-time first- team All-ACC selection and its first consensus two-time All-America pick. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS The Wolfpacker is a publication of: Coman Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Offices are located at 324 Blackwell St., Ste. 1020, Durham, N.C. 27701. (919) 688-0218. The Wolfpacker (ISSN 0273-8945) is published bimonthly. A subscription is $39.95 for six issues. For advertising or subscription information, call (800) 421-7751 or write The Wolfpacker. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Wolfpacker, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Periodical mail postage paid at Durham, N.C. 27702 and additional offices. First-class postage is $14 extra per year. E-mail: thewolfpacker@comanpub.com • Web site: www.thewolfpacker.com 94.Pack Perspective.indd 94 4/29/14 1:23 PM

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