 During his college career, he continued to excel in football and track and field at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California and Utah State University in Logan, Utah.Byrd received All-Conference and All-State honors in both football and track and field during high school and All-Conference honors in both sports during his college years.In the NFL, Byrd played for the New Orleans Saints (1993–1996) and the Tennessee Titans (1999) and was allocated to the Scottish Claymores (1995 and 1997) and Berlin Thunder (1999) in the NFL Europe league.