Kevin Tyree Dyson (born June 23, 1975) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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 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

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

. He was selected by the Tennessee Oilers 16th overall in the 1998 NFL draft. Dyson is best known for his part in two historic NFL plays – the Music City Miracle and The Tackle. He and his brother Andre were the first brothers in NFL history to score

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in the same game. After his football career ended, Dyson earned two master's degrees and a doctorate, and became the principal of a middle school, then a high school.

Early life and college

Born in

Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 United States Census, 2020 census recorded the population at 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Ca ...

, Dyson graduated in 1993 from Clearfield High School in Clearfield, Utah. In the fall of his senior year, he helped his team win the 1992 State 4A championship. At the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, Dyson played on the Utah Utes football team for five seasons (1993–1997) and graduated in 1997 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. In his four seasons as a starter, Dyson caught 192 passes for 2,726 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Professional football career

Dyson played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, wearing #87. In the 1999 playoffs, he was involved in two of the most memorable plays in NFL history. Dyson was the recipient of Frank Wycheck's

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to: Biology and healthcare * Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side" * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx * Lateral release ( ...

known by many as the Music City Miracle, and he was tackled by Mike Jones one yard short of scoring the probable game-tying/winning

as time expired in

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

, in a play known as The Tackle. Dyson played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

but saw very little action due to injury. He did appear briefly in

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

. The

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

acquired Dyson for the 2004 season, but later released him. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

he signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

but was cut on September 3 when teams reduced their rosters to the final 53 players. He finished his 6 NFL seasons with 178 receptions for 2,325 yards and 18 touchdowns in 59 regular-season games.

NFL career statistics

Coaching and education career

After retiring from football, Dyson went on to earn a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2007, and followed that up with a doctorate from the same school. Dyson was a counselor and wide receiver coach at Glencliff Comprehensive High School in Nashville from 2007 to 2009. Since 2008, Dyson has been on the board of the organization Students Taking A Right Stand. He later left to serve as the receivers and backs coach for Independence High School at Thompson's Station, Tennessee as well as the athletic director, eventually ascending to head coach in 2010. Dyson served as an assistant principal at Independence High School and as the principal of Grassland Middle School in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

. On April 22, 2021, he was named principal at Centennial High School in Franklin.

Personal life

Dyson is the older brother of NFL

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 ...

and former Titans teammate Andre Dyson. He lived in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

during his football career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, Kevin 1975 births Living people American football wide receivers Carolina Panthers players Utah Utes football players Tennessee Oilers players Tennessee Titans players Trevecca Nazarene University alumni Players of American football from Davis County, Utah Sportspeople from Logan, Utah Players of American football from Salt Lake City High school football coaches in Tennessee African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen