The name George "Butch" Byrd is famous not only at Boston University but also with the Buffalo Bills.
George Byrd was one of the best running backs and pass receivers on the Terrier football team of the early 60s. He also handled punt and kick off returns. He was a three-year regular, averaged 27.9 yards on kickoff returns as a senior and had a career total of 26 receptions for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
Following graduation, he played for the Buffalo Bills, earning all-pro honors in the American Football League as a defensive back.
Art Dunphy wrote to L. Budd Thalman, vice president in charge of public relations for the Bills, and was informed that in 1980 that Butch Byrd remained the Bills' all-time leading interceptor with 40 for 666 yards and five touchdowns. He also sent several pictures of Butch in the Bills uniform taken during his great career with Buffalo. Art had one of them hung in the Boston University alumni lounge.
Steve Sinko recruited him from the New York area, Steve's key area for getting football players. Byrd came from Watervliet and teamed up with Bob Horton of White Plains. They were known as Messrs. Inside and Outside.
Byrd stood 6-foot-2Â and weighed 205 pounds. He ran the 100 yards in 10 seconds and ran the dash for the Terriers during the winter season. Because of his exceptional speed, Byrd was considered the best pass receiver on the 1965 team. In his junior year, he led the team in scoring with five touchdowns, two of them on passes.
George Winkler, A.D. in the Newton School System and one of the four 12 letter winners at BU, was the person who discovered Byrd for Steve Sinko. In 1963, Byrd won the Thomas Gastall Award as the most outstanding back. In 1962, on a team which had two wins and seven losses, he scored five touchdowns and caught 12 passes for over 200 yards. For three years, he was the shining light on teams that went 7-18-1.
