By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – As the teams announced their final rosters on Wednesday for the inaugural season of the Alliance of American Football, there is some Tennessee Tech representation in the league.
Dontez Byrd, who finished his two-year career as a Golden Eagle rewriting Tech's receiving record book, made it to the final roster for the Memphis Express.
The AAF Express is just the latest professional football venture in Memphis, joining the Memphis Tigers in the 1920s, the Southmen/Grizzlies of the World Football League, the Showboats in the United States Football League, the Mad Dogs in the Canadian Football League and the Maniax in the XFL's first incarnation. Memphis also hosted the Tennessee Oilers in a transition year in 1997 en route to their relocation to Nashville and rebranding as the Tennessee Titans. Memphis also hosted Arena League teams in the Pharaohs and the Xplorers in the af2 brand.
On the Express' final roster, 19 played college football in the state of Tennessee, including six who played for the Volunteers, five from Tennessee State, two from Memphis and two from Vanderbilt.
Byrd is expected to line up as a slot receiver and could see passes from former Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg, LSU QB Zach Mettenberger or Troy QB Brandon Silvers.
After transferring from Louisville in 2016, he became the first Golden Eagle receiver to break the 1,000-yard mark for receiving yards in a single season. In 2017, he ranked 10th nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision in receptions per game (7.1), 15th in receiving yards (1,003) and 18th in receiving yards per game (91.2).
In both seasons in Cookeville, Byrd broke the Tech single-season reception and receiving yard records.
He finished his Tech career with 152 catches for 1,936 yards and 13 touchdowns, while also returning kicks for 809 yards and one for a touchdown in 2016 at Mercer. He was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy, was inducted into the NFF's Hampshire Honor Society and was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team presented by CoSIDA. Byrd was also named a third-team All-American by HERO Sports.
The Express opens its season on Feb. 10 as they travel to face the Birmingham Iron. The league will play a 10-game regular season with the playoffs on April 20-21 and its championship on April 27.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information