Tennessee Titans are so lucky to have Kevin Byard

One thing that the Tennessee Titans have proven during the Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson era is that their team culture is very strong.

You can see it in how resilient the team is when coming off of tough losses and general adversity, and you can clearly see it in that players have shown legitimate desire to play for them.

Another huge part of the Titans’ culture is that when you look at the prominent players of the team’s core, the vast majority of them are guys who make positive impacts off the field as well as stars on the field.

But when you look at the team from top to bottom, Kevin Byard is one who stands out as the ideal representation of the Tennessee Titans’ culture. Fans know what a great man and football player he is, but he still deserves to be talked about more with the contributions he has made for the team and the Nashville area.

Kevin Byard’s impact on the Tennessee Titans is immeasurable

Any time you hear Byard talk to the media or his teammates in the huddle every Sunday, you can clearly see a passionate man who wears his heart on his sleeve in everything that he does. In no case is this more apparent than when he recently talked about his mom, his role model who he just lost unexpectedly.

Besides that, the “Mayor of Murfreesboro”, as he has been nicknamed, has made his presence felt throughout the entire area of Middle Tennessee. His and his wife’s nonprofit family legacy is the perfect example of that, as he has helped grow the game of football and given back to his community in various ways.

That is not even getting into what he does on the field, besides being the anchor of one of the strongest safety duos in the NFL. And it even goes beyond being one of the captains and strongest leaders for the Titans.

What should really stand out to everyone, and has honestly not gotten the attention that it deserves, is that he has restructured his current contract not once, but twice in order to help out the team. Most players of his caliber are bothered to do that even once and to do it twice just speaks to how much he cares about winning and putting the state of the franchise above himself at all times.

Even Mike Vrabel, who we know as a hard-nosed and critical head coach, echoed this sentiment by mentioning in a recent press conference that Byard is someone whose example he wants his son to follow.

Vrabel will not hesitate to criticize those who he deems worthy nor will he hold back from praising those who deserve it, but to single someone out as a role model for his own son speaks volumes and is truly something you rarely if ever see him do.

The NFL is a business and there will be a time when it is in the best interest of both sides to part ways, but the Titans will have to think long and hard about his future when his contract expires. Who knows, he very well may take another discount to stay with the team knowing his values and priorities. Then again, the team may also overpay to keep him just because they know how important he is in everything they do.

The bottom line is that guys like Byard who constantly lead by example do not grow on trees, and the Titans are beyond fortunate to be having his services for the seventh consecutive year.