BIOGRAPHY
Byard was born on August 17th, 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a safety in the NFL.
At the age of 14, Byard moved to Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in Lithonia, Georgia. In high school, he participated in football and track.
Byard played for the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University from 2012 to 2015. He was redshirted in 2011. He earned Honorable Mention All-Conference USA honors in 2013. He was named First Team All-Conference USA in 2014 and 2015. Byard's 19 career interceptions are the most in school history. Byard graduated from Middle Tennessee in May 2015 with a degree in liberal studies.
Some of his favorites include: (TV show) “Martin”; (movie) “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Paid in Full”; (musician or band) Future; (food) Philadelphia cheesesteaks and hot wings; (childhood sports teams) Philadelphia 76ers; (athlete as a child) Allen Iverson; and (guilty pleasure) late-night snacks.
Byard was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the first pick in the third round (64th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft. He made his professional regular season debut in the Titans' season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings and collected five solo tackles. Byard played in 656 (60.1%) of the Titans' defensive snaps, leading all of their safeties. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 78.9, which ranked second among rookie safeties.
In 2017, Byard entered training camp slated as the Titans' de facto free safety after they opted not to re-sign Rashad Johnson. As expected, he was named the starting free safety to begin the season. On January 21, 2018, Byard was selected to appear in the 2018 Pro Bowl as an injury replacement. It marked his first career Pro Bowl. He was also ranked 80th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
In week 2 of the 2018 season, Byard threw a touchdown to rookie Dane Cruikshank on a fake punt in the Titans' 20–17 Week 2 victory against the Houston Texans. Byard completed the 2018 season with 90 tackles, two sacks, eight pass deflections, and four interceptions.
Byard started all 17 games in the 2022 season. He finished with 108 total tackles (69 solo), four interceptions, and six passes defended. He led the team in total tackles and interceptions.
Byard was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2023 season.
