Steve Bird (born October 20, 1960) is currently an assistant coach for the South Carolina State Bulldogs football team. He played in the NFL and CFL for the St. Louis Cardinals,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Eastern Kentucky University. The Cardinals chose him in the fifth round of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

College career

Bird was a three-year starter at wide receiver for the

Eastern Kentucky Colonels The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located in Richmond, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Confere ...

and played in four consecutive Division I-AA national championship games (1979–82); the Colonels won in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. Bird was a first-team All- OVC choice in 1982 when he was also selected to the I-AA All-American team by Kodak, ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. He was also chosen as the OVC’s Male Athlete of the Year for 1982–83. In 1982, he led the OVC with 63 receptions for 1,056 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky Hall of Fame in 2010.

Professional career

Bird was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983 and played for the Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, Edmonton Eskimos and Montreal Alouettes.

Coaching career

Bird returned to EKU in 1987 as a wide receivers coach. He went on to work as a graduate assistant coach at Kentucky (1990–91) and Tennessee (1992), before joining Pittsburgh as a wide receivers coach (1993–95). He was also an assistant at Kent State, Tulane and Middle Tennessee before joining the West Virginia coaching staff where, from 2001 to 2004, he served as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. At Eastern Kentucky, he coached tight ends in 2005 and wide receivers in 2006. He was at Bowling Green in 2007 and 2008 and joined the South Florida coaching staff in 2009. In 2013, he was hired at South Carolina State.

Personal

His father,

Jerry Bird Jerry Lee Bird (February 3, 1934 – July 16, 2017) was an American basketball player. Born in Corbin, Kentucky, he played collegiately for the University of Kentucky. He was selected by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1956 NBA draft and played ...

, played basketball at Kentucky.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Steve 1960 births Living people Eastern Kentucky Colonels football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players San Diego Chargers players Edmonton Elks players Montreal Alouettes players