William Joseph Byrne (November 19, 1940 – June 23, 2021) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He played professional football for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Early life

Byrne was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1940. Raised in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, he played prep football at Montclair High School, leading a team that lost only one game in his final two seasons. He played college football at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

from 1959 to 1961.

Career

He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round (55th overall pick) of the

1962 NFL Draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

. Despite having a matching offer from the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

, he signed with the Eagles in December 1961. He was the lone rookie slated to play in an early exhibition game in 1962, but he sustained a slipped disc in a warmup prior to the game. He missed the entire 1962 season due to the injury, and he was injured again during a pre-season game in 1963, this time injuring both his back and his knee. He was released by the Eagles at the start of the 1963 season but then recalled to the team. He appeared in 12 games with the Eagles during the 1963 season. He returned to the Eagles in 1964, but was cut at the end of August.

Death

Byrne died in June 2021 at age 80 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Bill 1940 births 2021 deaths American football offensive guards Boston College Eagles football players Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni Philadelphia Eagles players Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey Players of American football from Essex County, New Jersey Players of American football from New York City