Kevin Byard reacts to joining his hometown Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles' freshly acquired safety Kevin Byard will get to represent his hometown NFL team after more than seven successful seasons with the Tennessee Titans. It's safe to say he's beyond excited about it. "I really enjoyed my time there, you know, I'm always gonna be a Tennessee Titan for sure," Byard told reporters before […]
Philadelphia Eagles' freshly acquired safety Kevin Byard will get to represent his hometown NFL team after more than seven successful seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
It's safe to say he's beyond excited about it.
"I really enjoyed my time there, you know, I'm always gonna be a Tennessee Titan for sure," Byard told reporters before his first Eagles practice. "But you know, going forward, I'm excited to be here, excited to be in Philly, back home, my hometown, where I was born and raised. So it's an exciting time for me right now."
Byard will wear No. 31 for Philadelphia, but he'll hope to look and play more like former Eagles legend Brian Dawkins.
"Big influence on me," Byard said of Dawkins. "When I first started playing safety in high school, one of the first things I did was go on YouTube and look at his 'Weapon X' video."
The Eagles have dealt with several injuries to their secondary since the start of the season which led them to trade for Byard.
We'll get to see how the Eagles plan to use him when they take on the Washington Commanders on Sunday for their Week 8 matchup. Until then, Byard is doing his homework.
"I'm just coming in to learn the playbook, develop a relationship with the guys, and just try to come in and help as much as possible. Obviously, this team has a great culture of winning, has great leadership here, and I just want to come in and earn the respect of all of my teammates by first and foremost preparing the right way, taking care of my body, and doing all of those little things.
"Trying to do whatever I can to help this team win. It's exciting for me. It's been a crazy, what, 48 hours, to travel and join a new team in the middle of the year."
It's certainly a different environment for Byard, coming from the 2-4 Titans.
“This is my eighth season and I’m feeling really good, coming off a bye week, too,” Byard said. “I’m definitely feeling fresh right now. This team has a great culture and I’m just looking to add to that. It feels good to wake up 6-1.”
The fans are different too…in the best way.
"Obviously, the crowd is electric," Byard said. "Seeing some fights in the stands as well. But our fans are crazy. In a good way, though. You know, they support this team. So, I'm excited about that. And I think we only have like one more one O'clock game. So, a lot of primetime games. I'm excited about playing in primetime."
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