Kevin Byard

Kevin Leon Byard III (born August 17, 1993) is an American football safety for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

Byard was born on August 17, 1993, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After his parents divorced at the age of 14, Byard moved to Atlanta, Georgia with his mother and siblings.

He attended Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Lithonia, Georgia.

In high school, he participated in football and track.

Byard was the 24th player ever drafted from Middle Tennessee State and the highest player drafted from there since Tyrone Calico (second round, 60th overall), who was also selected by the Titans, in the 2003 NFL Draft.

He was redshirted in 2011.

Byard played for the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University from 2012 to 2015.

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.

On November 22, 2015, Byard announced on Twitter that he had accepted his invitation to play in the 2016 Senior Bowl.

He was impressive during the week of practices leading up to the Senior Bowl, as he displayed his ball-hawking and athletic ability.

Byard met with representatives from the Atlanta Falcons during the week.

Byard was not one of the 60 defensive backs invited to the NFL combine.

Byard was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

On March 31, 2016, he participated at Middle Tennessee's pro day, along with 18 other teammates.

He surprised many scouts and analysts with a 4.46 and 4.50 in the 40-yard dash as many scouting reports listed speed as one of his weaknesses.

Team representatives and scouts from 24 NFL teams were in attendance with Byard as the top prospect performing.

He met with representatives from the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, and Tennessee Titans during his pro day.

Byard had official private visits or workouts with 12 teams that included the Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, Titans, and Los Angeles Rams.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Byard received many mixed draft projections from draft experts and scouts, with some (NFLDraftScout.com) projecting him to be a third or fourth round pick to others (NFL.com) projecting him to be drafted in the sixth or seventh round.

He was ranked the fifth best strong safety prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Byard was drafted by the Titans with the first pick in the third round (64th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Byard was the fifth safety selected in the 2016 NFL draft.

On July 18, 2016, the Titans signed Byard to a four-year, $3.63 million contract with a signing bonus of $897,060.

Throughout training campp, he competed with Rashad Johnson for the vacant starting free safety position left by the release of Michael Griffin.

Head coach Mike Mularkey named Johnson the starting free safety to start the regular season with Byard serving as his backup.

Byard made his NFL debut in the Titans' season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings and collected five solo tackles in a 25–16 loss.

On November 6, he recorded a season-high ten combined tackles in the Titans' 43–35 loss at the San Diego Chargers.

His playing time increased after Johnson missed Weeks 8–9 after suffering a neck injury.

On November 13, Byard received his first career start and recorded seven solo tackles and made his first NFL sack on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a 47–25 victory.

Although Johnson returned from injury in Week 10, Byard remained the starting free safety for the last seven games of the season.

He finished his rookie season with a total of 58 combined tackles (44 solo), one sack, and four pass deflections in seven starts and 16 games.

He also finished second on the squad with 10 special teams tackles.

Byard entered training camp slated as the Titans' de facto free safety after they opted not to re-sign Rashad Johnson.

In 2017, his second season in the NFL, he was selected to the Pro Bowl and the first-team All-Pro and was the co-leader for most interceptions throughout the season.

Additionally, he led the NFL in takeaways with 10 (8 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries).