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Jairus Byrd

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Jairus Byrd
refer to caption
Byrd with the Saints in 2015
No. 31
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1986-10-07) October 7, 1986 (age 38)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school:Clayton (Clayton, Missouri)
College:Oregon (2005–2008)
NFL draft:2009 / round: 2 / pick: 42
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:524
Sacks:4.0
Forced fumbles:13
Fumble recoveries:6
Interceptions:25
Defensive touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Jairus Keelon Byrd (born October 7, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. He is a three-time Pro Bowl selection.

Early life

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Byrd attended Clayton High School in St. Louis County, Missouri. He played quarterback, wide receiver, safety and special teams. As a senior, he was the Missouri 4A offensive player of the year and played a large role in leading the school to the 2004 state championship. As a senior, he rushed for 1,480 yards with 26 touchdowns, passed for 1,038 yards with 13 touchdowns, and made six receptions for 125 yards on offense. On defense, he had 71 tackles, seven interceptions, three quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries. He also had 10 kickoff returns, 15 punt returns, and 18 punts. He also lettered in baseball, basketball and track.

College career

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Byrd enrolled in the University of Oregon, where he played for the Oregon Ducks football team. As a freshman in 2005, Byrd was red-shirted. In 2006 Byrd was a freshman All-American second-team selection by The Sporting News and was the Pac-10 co-freshman player of the year (alongside Taylor Mays and Alterraun Verner). He started the last 11 games at cornerback, recording 56 tackles and five interceptions.

As a sophomore in 2007 Byrd was an All-Pac-10 conference honorable mention. He started all 13 games for the Ducks, recording 64 tackles, a sack, and a conference leading seven interceptions. As a junior in 2008 he was an all-Pac 10 first-team selection and was the defensive MVP of the 2008 Holiday Bowl. He started 13 games and finished with 83 tackles and five interceptions.

Byrd finished his college career starting 37 of 39 games, with 203 tackles, 17 interceptions, a sack, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.

After the season Byrd announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL draft.[1]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Bench press Wonderlic
5 ft 10+1⁄8 in
(1.78 m) 		207 lb
(94 kg) 		32+5⁄8 in
(0.83 m) 		10+1⁄8 in
(0.26 m)		 4.68 s 1.53 s 2.68 s 4.10 s 6.75 s 35.0 in
(0.89 m)		 15 reps 15[2]
All values from NFL Combine/Oregon Pro Day[3][4]

Buffalo Bills

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The Buffalo Bills selected Byrd in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2009 NFL draft. Byrd was the third safety drafted in 2009, behind Patrick Chung and Louis Delmas.[5]

On July 29, 2009, the Buffalo Bills signed Byrd to a four-year, $4.15 million contract that includes $2.47 million guaranteed.[6][7]

After spending the first couple of games as a backup, Byrd started his first career game at free safety against the Miami Dolphins due to injuries to both the Bills starting safeties Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott.[8] He finished the game with three tackles. In his second start the next week Byrd recorded his first career interception off of Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns. Starting for the third straight week, Byrd recorded two more interceptions off Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets bringing his total to three.[9] The next week against the Carolina Panthers, Byrd had his second straight game of two interceptions, both of them coming off Jake Delhomme, bringing his total to five.[10] For his play, he was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for October.[11]

Byrd playing for the Bills in 2009.

In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Byrd recorded two interceptions for the third consecutive week, bringing his total to seven. This tied an NFL record held by Dave Baker for consecutive games with two or more interceptions with three.[12] After the Bills bye week Byrd intercepted his eighth pass of the season off of Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans. This was his fifth straight game with an interception, setting the team record for consecutive games with an interception.[13] He intercepted his ninth pass of the season off of Matt Cassel of the Kansas City Chiefs.

On December 23, 2009, Byrd was placed on season ending injured reserve.[14] He finished the season starting 11 of 14 games, recording 45 tackles and nine interceptions. The nine interceptions were tied for the league lead and was five more than any other rookie had.[15][16] For his play, he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl, becoming the first Bills rookie to be selected to play in a Pro Bowl since Greg Bell in 1984.[17] However, he was unable to play and was replaced by Brandon Meriweather. He was also a member of the Sporting News all-rookie team.[18]

On March 1, 2013, the Bills placed their franchise tag on Byrd after he was originally designated to become a free agent after the 2012 season.[19] On August 20, 2013, Byrd signed his $6.9 million franchise tender.[20] Despite signing the tender, reports were released that he wanted the Bills to trade him.[21] Byrd's tenure with the Bills ended after the team and his agents failed to agree on a long-term deal following the 2013 season. In five seasons with Buffalo, Byrd intercepted 22 passes and forced 11 fumbles, also making three Pro Bowl appearances.[22]

New Orleans Saints

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On March 11, 2014, Byrd agreed to a six-year, $56 million contract including $28 million guaranteed with the New Orleans Saints.[23] Byrd played in the Saints' first 4 games of the 2014 season, but then suffered a torn lateral meniscus knee ligament during practice on October 2, 2014; the following day, the team announced Byrd would be placed on season-ending injured reserve.[24]

On March 10, 2017, Byrd was released by the Saints.[25]

Carolina Panthers

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On October 3, 2017, Byrd was signed by the Carolina Panthers.[26]

NFL statistics

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Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2009 BUF 14 45 33 12 0.0 0 0 0 9 118 13 37 0 11
2010 BUF 16 89 62 27 1.0 3 2 0 1 37 37 37 1 2
2011 BUF 16 98 75 23 1.0 3 1 0 3 88 29 37 1 8
2012 BUF 16 76 53 23 0.0 4 2 0 5 81 16 45 0 6
2013 BUF 11 48 37 11 1.0 1 0 0 4 85 21 57 0 6
2014 NO 4 22 17 5 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
2015 NO 13 53 37 16 1.0 1 1 1 1 24 24 24 0 3
2016 NO 16 82 56 26 0.0 0 0 0 2 35 17 24 0 3
2017 CAR 12 11 9 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0
Career 118 524 379 145 4.0 13 6 1 25 468 19 57 2 41

[27]

Personal life

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His father, Gill Byrd, played in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers from 1983 to 1992, and was the defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills for the 2017-18 season. He is currently the passing game coordinator/safeties coach at the University of Illinois.[28]

Byrd is cousins with Richard Rodgers.[29] His uncle is Richard Rodgers Sr.

Byrd is a Christian.[30] He also sponsors two children through Compassion International.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Oregon's Byrd to enter NFL draft
  2. ^ "Rating the NFL Draft prospects: Defensive backs". archive.jsonline.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "Jairus Byrd Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "2009 Draft Scout Jairus Byrd, Oregon NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "2009 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  6. ^ "Overthecap.com: Jairus Byrd contract". Overthecap.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  7. ^ "Spotrac.com: Jairus Byrd contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Bills prepare Byrd for solo flight
  9. ^ Rookie Byrd takes flight with two picks
  10. ^ Byrd of prey: Buffalo rookie safety Jairus Byrd gets two more interceptions during a 20-9 win at Carolina
  11. ^ "A league honor for Byrd". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  12. ^ Bills rookie Byrd matches NFL-record multi-interception streak
  13. ^ "Notebook: Byrd is again the word". Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  14. ^ Byrd lands on IR, could lose INT title
  15. ^ NFL.com 2009 interception leaders
  16. ^ NFL.com rookie interception stats
  17. ^ "Byrd named to AFC Pro Bowl squad". Archived from the original on March 5, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  18. ^ "Sporting News 2009 NFL All-Rookie Team". Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  19. ^ Sessler, Marc (March 1, 2013). "Jairus Byrd designated with Buffalo Bills' franchise tag". NFL.com. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  20. ^ Hanzus, Dan (August 20, 2013). "Jairus Byrd ends Bills holdout, signs franchise tender". NFL.com. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  21. ^ Sessler, Marc (September 5, 2013). "Jairus Byrd reportedly wants Buffalo Bills to trade him". NFL.com. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  22. ^ "Report: Bills' talks with Byrd reach standstill". ESPN.com. March 2, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  23. ^ Jairus Byrd, New Orleans Saints agree on six-year contract
  24. ^ Gregg Rosenthal, "Saints place Jairus Byrd (meniscus) on injured reserve", NFL.com, October 3, 2014.
  25. ^ "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. March 10, 2017.
  26. ^ "Panthers sign safety Jairus Byrd". Panthers.com. October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  27. ^ "Jairus Byrd". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  28. ^ "GILL BYRD JOINS LOVIE SMITH'S ILLINOIS STAFF". fightingillini.com. February 23, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  29. ^ Dunne, Tyler (May 18, 2014). "Packers rookie Richard Rodgers Jr. learned football from dad". JSOnline.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  30. ^ "Faith". Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
  31. ^ "Compassion International". Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
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