Senior Kenny Byrd is a former walk-on who was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last fall and is among the best kickers in the Mountain West once again in 2006. He was preseason second team All-America selection by CollegeFootballNews.com and was named to the Groza Award Watch List again. The Albuquerque native has connected on 75% (21-28) of his career field goals (27 games), which is currently tied for 2nd all-time at UNM.
Byrd has been a big weapon for the Lobos in 2006, leading the team with 32 points. He is 7-10 on FGs and perfect on his 11 PATs. Byrd connected on a career-long 52-yard field goal vs. Missouri, tying for the third longest in UNM history. He has almost single-handedly shut down the opponents’ kick return game, helping the Lobos rank 1st in the MWC in kickoff coverage. Byrd has blasted 15 touchbacks on a league-high 65% of his attempts.
Byrd is an underrated athlete who can dunk a basketball and owns the position vertical jump record at UNM (38″). He was the Lobos’ No. 1 kicker in eight games in 2002, his first season of football at any level. A soccer player in high school, Byrd did not know how to put his pads on when he first joined the team. He was encouraged to try out by then-starting QB Casey Kelly, who was dating Byrd’s older sister, Kristen. Kristen and Casey have since married and they are expecting their first child in May of 2007.
Question: Talk about your first day with the Lobo football program?
Kenny Byrd: First, I never played football in high school. I came into the equipment room and they issued me shorts and pads. I did not know what was what. My helmet was way too big. One of the other walk-on kickers had to help me put on my shoulder pads. Everyone had a pretty good laugh at my expense.
Q: Describe a typical practice day for you?
KB: We have specialists with kickoffs and a few field goals in a team setting, then run pursuit drills for the defense, which is basically 40-yard sprints. Then we go to another field and kick. I work on field goals and kickoffs on Tuesday. Wednesday is all field goals and Thursday is a rest day for the leg.
Q: What’s in your future?
KB: I will graduate in December with a degree in Criminology. Hopefully, football will take me somewhere. It’s a long shot, but if I can get paid to kick a ball somewhere then I’ll do it. If it doesn’t, I still have my degree.
Q: Are kickers misunderstood?
KB: Yes, because nobody wants to know about us. Nobody really cares about us until Saturday.
Q: Do kickers get a bad rap about their perceived lack of athletic ability?
KB: Yes, extremely so. I’ve been playing other sports my entire life. We’re athletic, just smaller.
Q: How much did you weigh when you started at UNM and how much do you weigh now?
KB: 135 when I got here and 175 now.
Q: Is there a kicker that you most admire?
KB: Chris Boniol. He used to kick for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s helped me a lot in the past few years.
Q: What is you best football moment at UNM?
KB: Probably quieting the crowd at Missouri (in 2005) with a 40-yard field goal late in the game. I prefer to quiet a crowd rather than to hear a crowd roar. Also, last year at Wyoming when I hit a kickoff that went over a fence and out of the stadium. That’s probably the best ball I’ve kicked in my life.
Q: TV program you can’t miss?
KB: South Park.
Q: Rumor has it that your parents have seen every Lobo game since you started?
KB: Yes, that’s true; at least they have made it to all of the home games and the road games when I’ve made the trip.
Q: Your dream vacation?
KB: I think it would be pretty cool to go to outer space.
Q: Pregame meal?
KB: I don’t eat a lot before games, but a little lasagna with ranch dressing and a baked potato with lots of sour cream.
Q: Do you get nervous before games?
KB: A little when I get an eye on the stadium where we’re playing that day. Then, a little more when we first warm up on the field. I look around the stadium and wonder, `what am I doing here?’
Q: Any pregame rituals?
KB: I have so many and they’re all week long. I’m a mess. Before every kick I pull up my right sock, then my left sock, then I re-strap my (kicking) shoe. I do this on the sidelines when I think an extra point or field goal is near. That’s just one of many superstitions.
Q: Your favorite NFL team?
KB: San Francisco 49ers, going back to the Jerry Rice and Joe Montana days.
Q: Three living people you would like to have dinner with?
KB: Can they all be women? Selma Hayek, Jessica Simpson and Jessica Alba.
Q: Best movie you’ve seen recently?
KB: The Negotiator.
Q: Describe your perfect day?
KB: Making all my field goals and PATs and kicking all my kickoffs out of the end zone. Right now it’s football season so that’s the most important thing.