Demetrius Byrd (born June 30, 1986) 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was selected by the

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in the seventh round of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. 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 ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Early life

Byrd played pop warner for the Miami Lakes Jaguars under head coach Buck Bailey who produced players in the NFL such as Chad Johnson, Chad Simpson, Samari Rolle, Gartrell Johnson and many more Byrd played just one year at the high school level — his senior season at

Miami Central High School Miami Central Senior High School is a secondary school located at 1781 NW 95th Street in West Little River, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.0.1% 80.7% of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. Miami Central has a large Hai ...

. He led Miami Dade in yards with 36 catches 864 yards and 10 touchdowns his first year playing high school football. He signed with

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

, but opted to enroll in

Pearl River Community College Pearl River Community College is a public community college in Poplarville, Mississippi. It was founded as Pearl River County Agricultural High School in 1909 and became the first junior college in Mississippi in 1921. Residents of Hancock, ...

instead.

College career

Byrd started for two years at Pearl River, helping that school to back-to-back

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

state junior college championships. He was coached by former JCJC (Jones County Jr. College) WR Coach Melvin Tart. He combined to catch 87 balls for 1,433 yards and 12 touchdowns during his career, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

junior college honors this past season. Byrd was rated the No. 8 junior college wide receiver in America by JCGridiron.com in 2006. He transferred to

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 2007 and became an immediate contributor to the team. The biggest moment of his short college career came on October 20, 2007, when he caught a game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback

Matt Flynn Matt or Matthew Flynn may refer to: * Matt Flynn (American football) (born 1985), American football player * Matt Flynn (Australian footballer) (born 1997), Australian rules footballer * Matt Flynn (politician) (born 1947), American politician * ...

with time expiring in regulation vs. rival

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

Professional career

On April 26, 2009, Byrd was selected by the

224th overall in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft. This was despite a serious car accident in Florida a week before the draft. Byrd was upgraded from critical to good and discharged from the Intensive care unit. Byrd was placed on the non-football injury/illness reserve list before the 2009 season. On March 22, 2010, Byrd was released by the Chargers.

Personal life

As of September 2015, Byrd works as a trainer and insurance salesman.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, Demetrius 1986 births Living people Miami Central Senior High School alumni American football wide receivers Pearl River Wildcats football players LSU Tigers football players San Diego Chargers players Players of American football from Miami