Kevin Byard grew up watching Eagles playoff runs, now he gets a chance to help craft one himself
Byard lived in West Philly until he was 14 and recalls following Brian Dawkins. Now he is out to make some Eagles memories of his own.
When Kevin Byard was a high school football player, he’d pull up the same highlight video of Brian Dawkins before each of his games as a source of motivation.
The Eagles’ new safety, acquired Monday in a trade with the Tennessee Titans, unwittingly stood in one of Dawkins’ old lockers at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. Just before his first walk-through with his new team, Byard told old stories about spending the first 14 years of his life in West Philadelphia near the corner of 52nd and Lancaster Avenue.
He played pickup football at a nearby park, went to massive family cookouts, and watched the early 2000s Eagles teams enough to create a lasting appreciation for Dawkins and his teammates.
“Huge influence,” Byard said. “I’ve said this multiple times, Brian Dawkins was one of the top safeties that I looked up to growing up. Him, Ed Reed, and Troy Polamalu. When I first started playing safety in high school, one of the first things I did was go on YouTube and look up this ‘Weapon X’ video. It was like a hype video. I was going back and forth, every single game I played, I would go look at that. Obviously admired his intensity and the way he played the game.”
Byard’s loyalty to those 2000s Eagles teams, even after moving to Georgia when he was 14 years old, remains among the strongest memories of his time in Philadelphia. He watched the Eagles lose Super Bowl XXXIX to the New England Patriots at his aunt’s house in 2005 and still recalls the aftermath in her neighborhood.
“I remember vividly being younger and watching the Eagles lose the Super Bowl,” Byard said. “Being at my aunt’s house and everybody storming the streets [ticked] off and being super upset.”
Joining the 6-1 Eagles just before next week’s trade deadline, Byard has a chance to help the Eagles make some new memories for him and his family.
The Eagles sent Terrell Edmunds and two Day 3 draft picks to the Titans in exchange for the 30-year-old, shoring up one of the few spots on the roster that did not inspire confidence going into the second half of the season and potentially beyond.
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Byard, who has 27 career interceptions and a track record of durability through eight NFL seasons, eventually will pair with fellow Middle Tennessee State alumnus Reed Blankenship on the back end of the Eagles defense.
The secondary has experienced consistent turnover because of injuries through the first seven games, with Week 1 starting safety Justin Evans on injured reserve and Blankenship missing three games with two separate rib injuries.
Byard is the third veteran to join the team this month, joining slot cornerback Bradley Roby and future Hall of Fame receiver Julio Jones. The midseason additions are reminiscent of last year’s push, with general manager Howie Roseman trading for Robert Quinn and signing Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph in the lead-up to the playoffs.
The effort to load up sends a clear message to the Eagles locker room.
“It’s time to go,” Roby said. “It’s time to go try to win a ring, man. I feel like it’s making it obvious. We’re always trying to win every week, but it just makes it more important to get it done.”
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham added: “It’s been a revolving door of different injuries and different people in those positions. I think you can tell that [Roseman] really wants to win and sometimes you have to give up some stuff.”
Not all of Roseman’s trade-deadline moves have had the intended effect. Adding Jay Ajayi before the 2017 Super Bowl run may have been the best one, while trading for Golden Tate the following year and even Quinn last season had fewer benefits.
The challenges of integrating with a new team at midseason are foreign to Byard after spending more than seven seasons with the Titans. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said his experience with a variety of defensive coordinators may help ease his transition, though.
“He’s played in different systems and different ways of doing things,” Sirianni said. “Everything we know about Kevin — obviously besides the playing stuff — is about how big of a student of the game he is.”
Byard was regarded as one of the main leaders in the Titans’ locker room and already has connections with several of his new teammates. He said he met cornerback James Bradberry at the Senior Bowl in 2016 and worked out with Blankenship last summer in Tennessee.
“He’s a really great young player,” Byard said. “Last year, he came in and made a big play, I think he caught his first interception against Aaron Rodgers. I don’t even think I’ve picked off Aaron Rodgers yet, so that’s pretty cool. But he’s a really instinctual player, a physical player, and really smart. So I’m going to lean on him a little bit, too, just trying to learn the playbook and get my feet wet.”
“This team has a winning culture,” Byard added. “A great culture here. I’m just looking to add on to that. It definitely feels good to wake up 6-1 for sure.”