Allen Clark Lyday (born September 16, 1960) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He first enrolled at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

before transferring to the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

Early life

Allen Clark Lyday was born on September 16, 1960, in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

. He attended

Wichita South High School Wichita South High School, known locally as South, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. It is also known as Wichita High School South. The schoo ...

, where he participated in wrestling and football.

College career

Lyday first enrolled at

as a punter. He then transferred to the

to try out for the wrestling team but did not end up wrestling there. He was member of the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...

team from 1980 to 1982 and a two-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

from 1981 to 1982.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

1983 NFL draft The 1983 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...

, Lyday signed with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

on April 28. He was released on August 29, 1983. Lyday was signed by the

on April 6, 1984. He was released on August 20 but later resigned on October 25. He then played in four games for the Oilers during the 1984 season, recording one interception, before being placed on injured reserve on November 21, 1984. He was released the next year on September 3, 1985, and later re-signed on September 26, 1985. Lyday appeared in 13 games during the 1985 season, totaling one kick return for six yards, one fumble, and one fumble recovery. He played in the first four games of the 1986 season before being placed on injured reserve on October 1. He was later activated on October 31 and played in the final eight games of the season, recording three interceptions. Lyday appeared in seven games for the Oilers in 1987 before being placed on injured reserve again on November 23, 1987. He became a free agent after the 1987 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyday, Allen Living people 1960 births Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas American football defensive backs Texas Southern Tigers football players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Houston Oilers players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Kansas City Chiefs players American football punters