The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/337646
70 ■ THE WOLFPACKER FOOTBALL 2014 BY RYAN TICE W olfpack sixth-year safety Jarvis Byrd is a fighter; he knows no other way. He and his family had to scratch and claw to get by when he was younger. He would have never made it in Pahokee, Fla. — let alone make it out — if he wasn't tough. The small town is rich in its football history after sending dozens to the NFL and even more to college football pro- grams across the country, but is also over- run by poverty and crime. Byrd has faced obstacles of every sort in addition to his upbringing, and the only constant is his perseverance. "When it's like that, you have no choice or you won't make it this far," safeties coach Clayton White said. "There are kids who had that same lifestyle and were prob- ably more talented than Jarvis, but they're still in Pahokee. To me, Jarvis has auto- matically won." Byrd became the first in his family to graduate college this past May, but he's not done at NC State. He is determined to bounce back from a third ACL tear — but no matter what happens on the field, he will leave his mark away from it. "I'm still not 100 percent yet, but I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable," he said. "I feel like I'm there physically, I just have to get past that mental stage, but my biggest thing is to get the young guys right. "I feel like when I went down, we didn't have a player to step up and be that leader. That's why I'm working hard this year to get the guys like that; you never know what could go on, but you've got to be able to win despite that." Growing Up Tough The hard breaks started early for Byrd. His grandmother was the closest person to him growing up, but she passed away in 1999 when he was 11. He then became close to his father, but the elder Byrd was sent to jail in 2001. "He went away for 10 years, and my mom had to raise five boys," Byrd remem- bered. "She had to work two jobs to pro- vide for us. It wasn't always good, but she always made sure we had a way to eat and have school clothes." The old adage is that the youngest brother is usually the toughest, and Byrd's siblings were sure to deliver enough beat- ings to keep him from going soft. He also admits, though, their tough love helped make him into the man he is today. As he grew older, Byrd watched his brothers drop out of school. Willie, the sec- ond youngest, dropped out when he was in eighth grade, and another ended up in jail. "Seeing what my family had to go through and the direction my brothers were going, they influenced me to not do the same things," Byrd noted. "I learned from their mistakes." He always knew football was his ticket. That's not to say there weren't challenges on the gridiron — he always heard he was too small or too slow — but those matters were trivial compared to what Byrd had conquered off the field. "To get to where I am now, I had to fight my whole life," he said. "They raise you to be tough down there." Coming To Raleigh Byrd arrived at NC State as the lone four-star recruit in the 2009 class, and the brash youngster brought that Pahokee swagger up north. It wasn't necessarily a good thing. "They breed it in you at an early age that you're better than everybody else, so I wasn't humble," he said. "I felt like I was the best player here. "I didn't have my mindset right. I wasn't focused on school; I was trying to go in and out as quick as possible to get to the league." Injuries to other players brought Byrd THE FIGHTER Safety Jarvis Byrd Battles Back From Injury To Lead The Pack "To get to where I am now, I had to fight my whole life." ■ Byrd Byrd (14), who became the first in his family to graduate from college this past May, has played in 14 games with eight starts and re- corded 36 career tackles. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS 70-72.S Jarvis Byrd.indd 70 6/27/14 10:58 AM