George Edward "Butch" Byrd (born September 20, 1941) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who played in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and

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 played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Boston University Terriers The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's Varsity team, varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot ...

and was selected by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the fourth round of the 1964 AFL draft.

Professional career

Byrd was selected by the

in the fourth round, with the 25th overall pick, of the 1964 American Football League draft and immediately made an impact in the defensive backfield, with seven

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s. Such was his impact as a quick athlete that

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed "Bambi", is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), and the Dal ...

(star flanker of the San Diego Chargers) stated his preference to go up against Byrd when it came to pass plays despite the Chargers trying to dissuade him, with Alworth stating: "I want to play against the best". Byrd sometimes also played as a

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

, scoring a punt return touchdown in 1966. He was a five-time

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

and he was selected for the AFL All-Time Second-team. When he retired in 1971, he was one of thirty players with 40 interceptions (which resulted in him being tied for 15th); in the half-century since he retired, over thirty more players have joined him.

Franchise records

Byrd holds the Bills career records for interceptions with 40, interception return yards with 666 and interceptions returned for touchdowns with 5.

After football

After his career ended, he worked in management for the Chrysler Corporation and Polaroid, working 22 years with the latter company.

Honors

Byrd was inducted into the Boston University Hall of Fame, the LaSalle Institute Athletic Hall of Fame and the Albany Capital District Hall of Fame, all in 1980. He also was named to the All-Time Buffalo Bills Silver Anniversary Team in 1984, and in 2008 was selected to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Distinguished Service Award in 1994. Despite his records, he has not been named a member of the

Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

nor the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

, which has received notice from columnists in the Buffalo media.

References

External links