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Headline: The Uncrowned Heisman Winner
(From Oct. 2004)
By Dave Biddle
It has been 20 years since Ohio State’s last outright Big Ten championship.
The Buckeyes have shared the conference title five times since then, but the
1984 squad was the last to win it without company.
The cornerstone of that team was tailback Keith Byars, a rare combination of
size, power, speed and agility.
Byars turned in one of the best seasons in OSU history in 1984, rushing for
1,764 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns as the Buckeyes marched to the Rose Bowl.
“The whole season was a joy to play,” Byars told Bucknuts the Magazine.
“I remember us coming out of training camp and the mantra at Ohio State is
always the same: Rose Bowl or bust. We were really focused. We were like, ‘No
matter what happens this year, we’re going to the Rose Bowl.’ And that was
our single focus, each and every person on the team. There was no doubt we were
going to the Rose Bowl.”
As talented as the Buckeyes were, it wasn’t an easy road. They had senior
quarterback Mike Tomczak, a solid offensive line, a pair of precocious freshmen
in Cris Carter and Chris Spielman, and Byars. But there were plenty of
roadblocks.
“At one point, we were No. 1 in the country, and then we had a tough loss
against Purdue (28-23),” Byars said. “Then down 24 points against Illinois,
we just never quit. That team was resilient.”
In the 45-38 win over Illinois, Byars had one of the most memorable plays in
recent OSU history when he rumbled 67 yards for a touchdown, despite losing a
shoe at the Illinois’ 40-yard line. Byars finished the game with a then-school
record 274 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
But the Illinois game is Byars’ second-favorite memory from that season.
Ohio State defeated Michigan 21-6 behind three touchdowns from the dominant
Byars.
“Things finally worked out that we were able to control our own destiny
going into the Michigan game, which, growing up, that’s the game,” Byars
said. “I grew up watching Archie Griffin and those guys play and the last game
of the season always decided who was going to the Rose Bowl. That game in ’84
was like that and that was just a great thrill and opportunity to have all the
marbles land on that game. And being able to score three touchdowns and help my
teammates, it was just a great, humble feeling to have.”
Byars’ success in 1984 did not take him by surprise. He was coming off a
breakout sophomore season in ’83 in which he rushed for 1,199 yards and scored
22 touchdowns. In fact, he set extremely high goals coming into the 1984
campaign. He hoped to be the top runner in the nation, leading a talented group
that also included Auburn’s Bo Jackson, Notre Dame’s Allen Pinkett and Navy’s
Napoleon McCallum.
“Coming into my junior year, my goal on a personal level was to be a
two-time Heisman Trophy running back,” Byars said. “I had a big sophomore
year and was really looking forward to my junior year. Not only myself, but the
guys on the offensive line: Jim Lachey, Kirk Lowdermilk, Mark Krerowicz, all
those guys. They would say, ‘We want to block for a Heisman Trophy winning
running back.’ That was something that was not just my goal to win a Heisman
Trophy, it was the goal of the entire offense.”
Byars liked the pressure of “carrying” the team.
“We had two new starters at the wide receiver spot in Mike Lanese – who
was a hell of a player – and an incoming freshman by the name of Cris Carter,”
he said. “We knew we had to have success running the ball. Until Cris Carter
matured and turned into the receiver that he was going to be and we knew what
Mike could do, that was extra pressure on us to make sure we have a running
game. And at Ohio State, a running game is not an option. You’ve got to have a
running game. We knew what we were capable of going into that season.”
Of course, Byars’ Heisman dream was spoiled by Boston College quarterback
Doug Flutie, who got the last word with his famous Hail Mary pass on the last
play of a late-season game in a win over heavily-favored Miami.
“A little bit,” Byars said, when asked if he still replays Flutie’s
pass in his mind. “But at the end of the day, I knew I had given everything I
could give on a football field. It was one of those things where our season
ended on a Saturday and the BC-Miami game was played the following Friday after
Thanksgiving. All the voters were at home watching that game, eating turkey.
“I used to tease one of my ex-teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles,
Jerome Brown. Jerome Brown ended up dying in a car accident, but I used to tease
him all the time when we were in Philadelphia, ‘All those tackles you had at
the University of Miami, all those sacks, all those great plays you made, that’s
the one play you decided to take off? One more sack and I have a Heisman Trophy.
You took that play off.’ We used to laugh and joke about that all the time.”
The Buckeyes went on to lose to USC 20-17 in the Rose Bowl and finished the
’84 season with a 9-3 record (what else for an Earle Bruce team?).
Heading into his senior season in 1985, Byars broke a bone in his foot in
preseason camp. He returned by midseason but re-injured the foot and missed most
of the remainder of the season. It was more bad luck for the preseason Heisman
favorite.
Instead of leaving Columbus with two Heismans, he would leave with none.
“The only disappointment from it was from the personal standpoint, but I’ve
always been a team-oriented guy,” Byars said of the broken foot. “That’s
like talking about my junior year, if I would have won the Heisman Trophy, it
wouldn’t have been ‘me,’ it would have been ‘us.’ I just felt the
disappointment not just for myself, but for my teammates, because we knew we
weren’t going to have me after I broke my foot.
“But, I think overall, we had a good season. We won the Citrus Bowl (10-7
over BYU). We beat Iowa (22-13) who was No. 1 at the time. We had a tough loss
up at Michigan (27-17). Wisconsin was a tough loss (12-7). But I have no
regrets. I have always been sensitive about, ‘I wish I was healthy my whole
senior year’ you know, to get us back to the Rose Bowl and possible national
championship. I thought very well that could have happened. We lost some great
players from my junior year, but at Ohio State, you reload.”
When Byars was at OSU, his position coach was a young man named Jim Tressel
(who also coached quarterbacks and receivers). Tressel made a lasting impression
on Byars.
“I’ve known Coach Tressel over 20 years and he’s the same, but has only
gotten better as time’s gone by,” Byars said. “It was a joy to play for
him, seeing that he got his first opportunity at Ohio State 20 years ago. You
could tell then how attention-to-detail oriented he was. He was such a student
of the game, it made me a better student of the game. I didn’t know it all as
a college player, and Coach Tressel taught me some things about football that I
didn’t know, and it helped make me a better player. As far as studying film
and what to look for, that carried over not just at Ohio State, but at the
professional level as well.
“Tressel was the same way then as he is now, as far as how players respond
around him. No matter how bad a situation looks, or how good it is, Tressel is
ultra-cool. He’s so cool; he’s laid back and keeps things in prospective,
and that makes it so much easier on the players. When Ohio State wins all those
close games at the end, you know, fourth down, fourth quarter, those guys are
prepared for it because you take on the personality of your head coach. Good or
bad, that’s the way football is. If you see your head coach isn’t panicking
in those situations, you won’t panic. And that’s why they won the national
championship in 2002, that’s why they were playing to get back there last year
and that’s why they’re a strong contender to win it again this year. Coach
Tressel keeps things in perspective. He expects and prepares his players to step
up and make plays.”
Tressel has coached a lot of good running backs over the years, but none
better than Byars.
“Keith is one of those guys that … I’ve never coached one like him
since,” Tressel said. “He was a great running back and receiver. He caught
over 40 balls his junior year when he rushed for over 1,700 yards – the year
he was the runner-up for the Heisman. He could do some things that I’ve never
seen anyone else do. I thought he was the best player in college football that
year and Flutie had that miracle pass and got the Heisman.”
Despite lingering affects from the broken foot, the Eagles thought enough of
Byars to make him the 10th overall pick in the 1986 NFL draft.
Byars was happy to go in the top 10 but admits he was a little weary of his
new coach in Philly. He wasn’t quite sure what to think at first.
“Well, Buddy Ryan was the new head coach, and he was totally different, and
I wasn’t sure I wanted to play for him,” Byars said. “He was very
outspoken, totally different than Earle Bruce and Jim Tressel-types that I had
been around. But I got to respect Buddy Ryan and love him as a head coach,
because he taught me a lot about the game. He taught me how to play the game on
the professional level. I loved the whole city of Philadelphia and the whole
atmosphere of playing there.
“Just like I’ll always be a Buckeye for life, I’ll always be a
Philadelphia Eagle. I grew up a Cleveland Browns fan – I still want them to do
well – but I’m a die-hard Eagles fan. I have a special kinship with the fans
there.”
Byars was a game-breaker at Ohio State but reinvented himself in the NFL. He
could still play tailback but ended up becoming a Pro Bowl fullback – just one
of several positions he played.
“I think I still would have been a featured back in the pros if I hadn’t
broken my foot twice,” Byars said. “The affects of that stayed with me a
little bit, but I looked at myself as a football player first and football
players play football. So, I didn’t necessarily fall in love with a position
on the football field. Anywhere you need me to go, that’s where I’ll play.
You need me to play tailback, I’ll play tailback. You need me at fullback,
fullback. You know, H-back, tight end, whatever it is to help us win the
football game, that’s what I’ll do.”
Byars played seven seasons with Philadelphia, three with the Miami Dolphins,
two with the New England Patriots and one with the New York Jets. There are a
lot of teams in the league today that would like to have a versatile player like
Byars on their roster.
“I watch the NFL now and a lot of teams are trying to find that hybrid type
of position that I played,” Byars said. “They’ll call it an
H-back/fullback. I didn’t have to come out of the game. I could line up at
wide receiver and go line up at the slot, I would line up on the line and play
tight end, line up in the backfield and play tailback, fullback. A lot of teams
today are still trying to find those types of mismatches. That was my niche.
That’s why (Bill) Parcells had a special place in his heart for me. He would
be like, ‘I couldn’t defend you all those years you played in Philadelphia
and now I want you with me. I want you to give defensive coordinators headaches
like you gave me.’ So that’s how we really struck up a good friendship and
kinship together.”
Parcells was Byars’ coach in New England and New York.
Byars could even throw the football. He was one of the best at the halfback
pass, finishing his NFL career with six touchdown passes.
“When he went into the NFL, Keith did what he had to do,” Tressel said.
“You know, he was a running back for a while, then he got a little bit older
and he was an H-back, then he was a tight end. He played quite a few years and
was always a team leader.
“And now that he’s out, he’s helping kids train. He’s helping kids
learn the right way to do things in the NFL. And he comes back here whenever we
need him to be. Keith Byars is one of those special guys.”
In addition to helping young athletes prepare for the next level, Byars –
who resides in Boca Raton, Fla. – also owns his own business.
“I have an engineering company – mechanical and electrical,” he said.
“We work with aviation and water departments.”
But, without question, golf is his favorite hobby.
“I play lots of golf,” said Byars, who boasts a 10-handicap. “I play
every day but Sunday. You just can’t beat being out on the golf course.”
Byars, originally from Dayton, is fourth on OSU’s career rushing list with
3,200 yards. Ahead of him are Griffin (5,589), Eddie George (3,768) and Tim
Spencer (3,553), who all had more rushing attempts than Byars.
“We have a strong tradition of running backs at Ohio State and I’m proud
to be mentioned with those guys,” Byars said.