November 29, 1992: The Dennis Byrd Game

November 29, 1992: The New York Jets lose 23-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Giants Stadium – and nobody cares. The reason is the injury to Jet defensive tackle Dennis Byrd, the result of a freak accident on the field.

Dennis DeWayne Byrd was born on October 5, 1966 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He grew up in Mustang, Oklahoma, played defensive end at the University of Tulsa (the Golden Hurricane), and was drafted by the New York Jets in the 2nd round of the 1989 NFL Draft.

On November 29, 1992, Byrd was enjoying a modest, not particularly noteworthy career when he took the field against the Kansas City Chiefs at Giants Stadium. Byrd and teammate Scott Mersereau attempted to sack Chiefs quarterback Dave Krieg, but Krieg got away, resulting in a collision between the Jet defenders. Byrd's helmet hit Mersereau straight in the chest, compressing Byrd's neck and breaking a bone in his neck the C-5 veretbra.

This was 1 year and 1 day after Detroit Lions guard Mike Utley had broken his neck in a game, and just 3 days after an emotional Thanksgiving Day game in which Utley guided his wheelchair out to midfield and served as the Lions' Honorary Captain.

Like Utley, Byrd was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of his injury. Utley took years before he could even take a few steps unaided, and, essentially, remained in a wheelchair, although he didn't let that stop him from getting around and raising money for spinal cord research.

Byrd was considerably luckier: With intense physical therapy, he was able to walk to midfield for the Jets' season opener on September 5, 1993, and serve as Honorary Captain. In the meantime, every Jet helmet had a sticker with his uniform number, 90 over an ichthys -- a "Jesus fish," indicative of Byrd's faith. The 1st game after his injury was against the Buffalo Bills, and some of their players wore the logo on their helmets as well.

The Jets announced an annual Most Inspirational Player Award, to be named for him. They also announced that his Number 90 would never be reissued, and on October 28, 2012, it was formally retired.

Byrd was married to Angela Hales, and they had 4 children. He wrote Rise and Walk: The Trial and Triumph of Dennis Byrd. It was made into a TV-movie starring Peter Berg. He coached on high school football staffs in Oklahoma, at Owasso High School and Lincoln Christian School in Tulsa, the latter naming its football stadium for him. He also became a motivational speaker. 

On October 15, 2016, Byrd was driving his 2004 Hummer H2 southbound on Oklahoma State Route 88, between Claremore and Oologah. A 17-year-old kid (whose name, legally, could not be released) from Claremore was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer, and it veered into the oncoming lane, and hit Byrd's Hummer head-on. Byrd was dead on the scene, just past his 50th birthday.

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November 29, 1992 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The Washington Redskins beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 41-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New England Patriots, 34-0 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 27-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 21-9 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 16-13 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 19-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 27-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-17 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The San Francisco 49ers bear the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants, 30-3 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* Also on Thanksgiving, the Houston Oilers beat the Detroit Lions, 24-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* And the night after this, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 16-13 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

Baseball was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-91 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-101 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors, 126-102 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-92 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks, 123-95 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons, 99-87 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 108-99 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Michael Jordan led all scorers on the day with 35 points.

There was 1 game in the NHL: The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Ottawa Civic Center (now the TD Place Arena).