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RB Keith Byars (B10 POY, All-American, OSU HOF, CFB HOF, NFL Pro Bowl)

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Ex-OSU, NFL star Byars cherishes ties to Dayton
By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2012

MORAINE ? Keith Byars always has made his presence felt.

On the football field, he was a star running back at Roth High, an All-American at Ohio State and an All-Pro in the NFL.

Off the field, he teamed for years with fellow pro Martin Bayless to put on the free Byars-Bayless football camp that brought scores of NFL players to Dayton and benefited thousands of Miami Valley youngsters.

Earlier this month, he joined several other former pro players as plaintiffs in a suit filed in federal court in Philadelphia that claims the NFL intentionally and fraudulently misrepresented and/or concealed neurological risks of repetitive trauma brain injury and concussions.

And early Thursday morning at the Mandalay Center, Byars ? who now lives in Boca Raton, Fla., where he has coached high school football and now does a Miami Dolphins pregame radio show ? was the keynote speaker at the annual Miami Valley Council Leadership Breakfast, a fundraiser for area Boy Scouts that helped bring in $176,403.

Yet, if you are looking for a moment in Byars? life when he truly made an indelible impression, it had to be when he took his first college recruiting trip to Michigan at the request of Bo Schembechler.

Thursday, once he was sure the several hundred in attendance had finished their breakfasts, he gave a detailed account of that teenage trip that he called ?the worst college visit of any I took.

?They gave me food I never heard of. Oysters. Porterhouse steak ? what?s that? I?d been to Ponderosa and seen T-bones. But Porterhouse? They said it was the biggest steak. And shrimp cocktail. I said, ?It?s not even cooked. Shouldn?t it be boiled or something??

?But I shoveled it all in. Then as we?re going back to the hotel, I say, ?Coach, you got to speed it up.? But he?s explaining this and explaining that and I say, ?No Coach, you?ve GOT to speed it up.?

?Well, he?d just pulled into the parking lot ? in his brand new car ? and well, there came all that food. I finally looked up at him and said, ?Well, you still want me to come here?? ?
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?My four years at Ohio State were the best years of my life,? he said. ?I absolutely adored them.?

He spoke on several OSU topics Thursday, either to the crowd or privately afterward.

He supported ousted football coach Jim Tressel, praised new coach Urban Meyer and said of the players involved in the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal:

?I still don?t know what they did wrong. Although I cherish my Big Ten ring and think those guys don?t recognize how important they are, they still had the right to do with them what they wanted. They belonged to them.?

Some of his most glowing OSU memories went back to Woody Hayes. While Earle Bruce was his Bucks coach, Hayes was a bigger-than-life presence to him.

He told how Hayes initially ?browbeat? him on the phone about looking at other colleges besides OSU. But he said when he went with his parents for his official OSU visit, Hayes sat down and talked to his mom and dad:

?After that, for my four years at Ohio State, every time I saw him or had a one-on-one conversation with him, he asked how my mother and father were. And he didn?t just say Mr. and Mrs. Byars, he?d say, ?How?s Reggie and Margaret??
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http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayt...-byars-cherishes-ties-to-dayton--1329971.html
 
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For OSU players ? a contract to embrace

By Tom Archdeacon | Friday, February 17, 2012

MORAINE ? While giving the keynote address at the Boy Scouts fundraising leadership breakfast Thursday at the Mandalay Center, Keith Byars, the Ohio State football great and 13 year NFL veteran from Roth High in Dayton, brought something up from his OSU days that would be good for today?s Buckeye?s players to embrace.

It seems especially significant in light of the problems involving the off-the-field actions and associations that got several key players suspended for the start of last season.

As he talked about the relationship he had with his roommate and friend Pepper Johnson - who later became a celebrated pro, as well - you wished some of today?s player had their mindset. He told how he and Johnson, a linebacker from Detroit, got thrown together as freshmen roommates. While other pairings on the team eventually broke up, he and Johnson retained the bond they formed when they first met.

?That first day we made a contract,? said Byars, who began his talk by telling the crowd he was the son and grandson of preachers. ?I told him ?You?re my roommate, so if you see me doing anything wrong or getting off track, please grab me, stop me and tell me about it. And vice versa, I?ll do the same for you.

?And I can tell you to this day I have never done drugs once in my life. Never been drunk either. That?s thanks to Pepper, but mainly because I was afraid what my mommy and daddy would say? I wasn?t just representing myself, I was representing them and the entire city of Dayton and I didn?t want to let any body down.?

And he never did.

cont..
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http://www.daytondailynews.com/blog...2012/02/17/for_osu_players_a_contract_to.html
 
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THREE FORMER OHIO STATE GREATS NAMED TO 2016 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME BALLOT

The College Football Hall of Fame announced its 2016 ballot today, and three former Ohio State great have earned a shot at enshrinement.

Keith Byars - RB - The Ohio State University. Unanimous First Team All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up who led nation in rushing (1,764), all-purpose yards (2,441) and scoring (144) in 1984…1984 Big Ten MVP and two-time All-Big Ten selection…Ranks fifth all-time at OSU with 4,369 career all-purpose yards and 3,200 career rushing yards.

The announcement of the 2016 College Football Hall of Fame class will happen on Friday, January 8th, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...-to-2016-college-football-hall-of-fame-ballot
 
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