It's now 54 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday, August 30, 2025, against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC.
Today, we will highlight #54 which is retired in honor of Art Byrd
#54 Art Byrd
- Class
- 1950
- Induction
- 1990
- Sport
- Football
Art Byrd - Football - (1946-49)
Art Byrd was Western Carolina's first football All American Selection in 1949 when he helped lead the Catamounts to the North State Conference championship, the school's first football title. He was a two way player as an offensive and defensive lineman who amazingly was in on every play of every game in the 1948 season. According to his head coach, Tom Young, Byrd "epitomized the spirit of those fine football teams that put us on the map." Byrd was a catalyst of three winning records in his four seasons (1946-49). His jersey and number - 54- was the first to be retired in Western Carolina's athletic history.
First football All-America selection at Western Carolina University, playing guard on both the offensive and defensive side of the football ... Helped the Catamounts to an 8-2 regular season mark in 1949 and their first North State Conference title ... That team additionally holds the distinction of being WCU's first to earn a postseason bid, playing in the Smoky Mountain Bowl in Bristol, Va. ... Is the first Western Carolina student-athlete to have their jersey retired ... Inducted into the Western Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990, WCU's first-ever induction class.
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