R.I.P. Dennis Byrd

Dennis Byrd played four seasons for the Jets before a spinal injury abruptly ended his career in 1992. The Jets retired his number, 90, in 2012.It’s hard to stop thinking about Dennis Byrd. On Saturday, with his son in his car, the 50-year-old former Jets defensive lineman was killed when he was struck head-on by another car on a highway in Oklahoma. Twenty-four years ago Byrd, one of the best interior linemen in football, was left paralyzed after colliding with a teammate in a game against Kansas City. To understand why I couldn’t stop thinking about Byrd all day Sunday, understand that after he was injured in November 1992, SIassigned me to write a story about Byrd and the outpouring of love and affection for a fairly nondescript (but very good) player. This is some of what I found:

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