RALEIGH -- While celebrating the start of a new football season, N.C. State will take time tonight to celebrate the life of one of its biggest football stars.
And that's what Dennis Byrd's family wants it to be: a celebration, not a mournful moment.
A consensus All-American at defensive tackle in 1967 and a leader of the Wolfpack's famed "White Shoes" defense, Byrd died on July 22 after suffering a heart attack following back surgery. Byrd, 63, was to be inducted in December into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame.
At halftime of tonight's opener against Western Carolina, N.C. State and the NFF College Hall of Fame will jointly honor Byrd, the first ACC football player to be named first-team all-conference three times.
"It will be a mixed bag of emotions, and will be bittersweet," said Paul Byrd, one of Dennis Byrd's three sons. "But the family would like the ceremony to be treated as a celebration of his life and his football career.
"He loved having the family all together, and Carter-Finley Stadium always meant so much to him. It should not be a sad time."
Big and agile at 6 feet 5 and 260 pounds, Byrd was a nightmare for opposing offensive linemen. He helped the Wolfpack win a share of the 1965 ACC championship and finish 9-2 in 1967, with a victory over Georgia in the Liberty Bowl.
"He was a very humble man," Paul Byrd said of his father. "He did not talk much about himself. But later, after we asked him questions, it was like, 'Wow, he was that good.' "
Despite a knee injury that he suffered late in the '67 season, Byrd was drafted in the first round by the Boston Patriots in 1968. The knee problems persisted, though, and he played just two seasons for the Patriots, coaching and teaching in high school for 30 years before retiring in 2004.
Byrd, who grew up in Lincolnton, was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. His jersey number, No. 77, has been retired by the Wolfpack.
David Horning, executive senior associate athletics director at N.C. State, called Byrd the "best that has ever played his position at N.C. State."
"He will always be remembered at N.C. State for his dominant play and his commitment to his team," Horning said. "There will never be another Dennis Byrd."
