Jeff Byers (born September 7, 1985) is a former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who played in the

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. He played his college football for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

High school career

Byers attended Loveland High School, where he participated in basketball, track and played competitive football. In 2003, he played both offense and defense: That season, on defense as a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

, he had 203 tackles, 56 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries (with a touchdown). On offense, as a

he recorded 34

pancake blocks The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

in one game and never allowed a sack in his career.Lynn DeBruin
Byers' setback on field helps him get ahead in classroom
''Rocky Mountain News'', Published December 3, 2005 , Accessed December 22, 2008. Loveland won the Class 4A state championship in 2003. He was named the 2004

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

, as the nation's top high school football player.

College career

Although Byers arrived at USC as a center, the Trojans already had then-sophomore

Ryan Kalil Ryan Joseph Kalil (born March 29, 1985) is an American film and television producer and former NFL center. He played college football at USC, where he was a member of two national championship teams, was named a first-team All-American, and wo ...

who kept the position for three seasons; as a result, he moved to left guard. As a freshman, Byers started 4 and played in all 13 games during the 2004 season, as the Trojans went on to win the National Championship.Gary Klein
Tailback Moody to transfer
''Los Angeles Times'', August 16, 2007, Accessed December 22, 2008.Gary Klein
Jeff Byers gets sixth year of eligibility with Trojans
''Los Angeles Times'', December 20, 2008, Accessed December 22, 2008. In the spring before the 2005 season, Byers had hip surgery and missed the entire season under a

medical redshirt Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He started the 2006 season as a reserve in the opening game against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, but suffered a back

sprain A sprain, also known as a torn ligament, is an acute soft tissue injury of the ligaments within a joint, often caused by a sudden movement abruptly forcing the joint to exceed its functional range of motion. Ligaments are tough, inelastic fibers ...

in subsequent week that required surgery.Gary Klein
Kalil Sits After Hit but Is Set to Play
''Los Angeles Times'', September 15, 2006, Accessed December 22, 2008. He missed the rest of the season. Byers recovered in time for the 2007 season, where he started all 13 games: 12 starts at left offensive guard and as center against

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

. He missed most of the training camps the following spring after contracting

Rocky Mountain spotted fever Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally made up of small spots of bleedin ...

. He was able to recover and was selected as a team captain for the 2008 season.Gary Klein
Captain Sanchez getting closer
''Los Angeles Times'', August 23, 2008, Accessed December 22, 2008. After starting all 12 regular season games, Byers was selected to the 2008 All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Second-team by conference coaches.Gary Klein
USC's Rey Maualuga named Pac-10's top defensive player
''Los Angeles Times'', December 9, 2008, Accessed December 22, 2008. Due to the health issues that caused him to miss the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Byers petitioned the NCAA for a "clock-extension waiver". In December 2008, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

granted him an additional season of eligibility. Byers received his bachelor's degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in the summer of 2007, he is currently studying under the

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

program at the USC

Marshall School of Business The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1997 the school was renamed following a $35 million donation fr ...

. During the 2008 season, USC

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC Troja ...

had Byers lecture the entire team on the

subprime mortgage crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...

.Gary Klein
USC guard Jeff Byers gives teammates the business
''Los Angeles Times'', October 9, 2008, Accessed December 22, 2008. He made the 2007 Pac-10 All-Academic second-team. In 2009, Byers was listed at No. 1 on ''

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′s'' preseason interior lineman power ranking in 2009. With the injury of starting center Kristofer O'Dowd, Byers was moved to starting center for the Trojans 2009 season opener against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

.Gary Klein
Offensive linemen made presence felt
''Los Angeles Times'', September 7, 2009, Accessed September 8, 2009.

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Undrafted in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

, Byers was signed by his former college coach,

, to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

on April 30, 2010, but cut before the start of the season. Byers was then added to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

practice squad on September 6, 2010. Byers was activated by the Broncos in December 2010, but released the following summer. Following his release by the Broncos, Byers was added to the Panthers' practice squad on September 5, 2011. He was promoted to the Panthers' active roster on December 17, 2011. Byers announced his retirement on March 11, 2014.

References

External links

USC Athletic Department Biography: Jeff Byers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byers, Jeff 1985 births Living people American football offensive linemen Carolina Panthers players Denver Broncos players People from Loveland, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado Seattle Seahawks players USC Trojans football players