Adolph Byrd’s voice was far from the most popular at Grambling College when he returned to the school in 1946 after World War II to complete his education.
But it gained more and more influence, respect and recognition over the years en route to becoming one of the first 40 members of the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame.
“I began to sing in the choir under the music teacher Sarge King,” the now 88-year-old remembered with a smile. “My voice was so bad he told me, ‘Young man, I want you to hum your part because you’re disrupting my class.’ So I had to hum when all the group, the girls and the boys, started to sing together, and then I didn’t disrupt his class — too much.”
Choir might not have been Byrd’s forte while at Grambling — he was a proud member of the football team — but his voice would prove valuable after his graduation.
He had followed Eddie Robinson by a few years at McKinley High School before each made his way to Grambling, Byrd as a football player and Robinson as a legendary football and basketball coach among other positions.
Byrd was a tackle on Grambling’s legendary unbeaten, untied and unscored-upon 1942 football team in Robinson’s second year, the first of the coach’s 45 winning seasons. He continued to contribute to the program’s success, however, for decades after his graduation.
“There were so many basketball and football players I can’t name all of them, but coach Robinson gave me permission to sign any young man or young lady that I considered Grambling material,” he said. “I had the scholarships in the trunk of my car.”
READ THE REST: Byrd’s fingerprints are all over Grambling legacy
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