Panthers, Damiere Byrd hope second time’s the charm in Charlotte for veteran receiver

Damiere Byrd found a home in the Carolinas. He played at South Carolina — which he claims is the true USC — and became an NFL player with the Panthers under then-coach Ron Rivera in 2016.

He has family here. He planted roots in the Queen City during the first four years of his career.

Even though Byrd left the Carolinas the past three seasons, the wide receiver said Charlotte has been his home since his initial run with the Panthers.

“I would always come back to Charlotte in the offseason,” Byrd said. “All my friends are here, a lot of friends or family are here in Charlotte. So, I never really left. It’s obviously a good feeling to be back and be able to be in what I call my home base.”

Byrd hasn’t stayed in one place since leaving the Panthers, either, moving from team to team, earning playing time as a wide receiver and a returner on special teams. He has worked with rookie and veteran quarterbacks, fought against depth-chart predictions and now, entering his ninth year in the NFL, has returned to Charlotte on a one-year deal.

‘They can’t teach speed’

Byrd was an undrafted free agent in 2015 after graduating from South Carolina as a dual-sport athlete on the track and field team. He signed a contract with the Panthers that offseason, but didn’t make the active roster until 2016.

Although he’s not the tallest wide receiver on the field, Byrd has found a way to make his height an advantage. He stands just 5 feet, 9 inches, but the veteran’s speed and agility have been constants.

“So, obviously, I’m going to use that to my advantage,” Byrd said. “You know, at the end of the day, they can’t teach speed, and they can’t stop what they can’t get. Hopefully, that continues to be my advantage.”

Byrd’s only one of two players on the training camp roster shorter than 5-10 — running back Raheem Blackshear is the other — but when Byrd was declaring for the draft, teams liked small receivers. That’s not the case anymore, but Byrd still uses his height to navigate around those taller, lengthier defenders.

“I think perspective changes,” Byrd said. “Where kind of the game is, you can kind of see in the past few years, it’s been moving to the bigger, longer corners and it translates into the bigger receivers.”

He ran for the Gamecocks’ track team as a sprinter, and is in the team’s record book for the 55- and 60-meter dashes. Byrd ran a 4.28 in the 40-yard dash on South Carolina’s pro day, establishing his reputation for speed beyond the track. That speed has come in handy, both as a specialist and as a deep threat, especially when avoiding man coverage.

Byrd said he still feels the impact of competing for the track team nearly 10 years later because there’s so much he can adapt from track to football.

“I think scouts always look for guys who can play multiple sports,” he said. “You know, whether that’s football and basketball, or football and baseball.”

‘A savvy vet’

Byrd left the Panthers in March 2019 after playing 17 games in Charlotte over three seasons. He has since taken single-season adventures around the country — playing first for the Arizona Cardinals, then pivoting to the New England Patriots, the Chicago Bears and, most recently, the Atlanta Falcons.

He has worked with then-rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, and a mix of veterans like Justin Fields, Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, and Byrd’s had to develop chemistry with these QBs while learning everything else that comes with changing teams.

Transferring those lessons to the Panthers, Byrd said this week he feels pretty comfortable with Bryce Young (who is just slightly taller at 5-10), Andy Dalton and the other Panthers QBs.

“I think you learn how to communicate, you learn what you’d like to do and how you’re able to establish it and mold it into what they like to do,” Byrd said. “It’s always great to be able to play and learn and work with a lot of great quarterbacks.”

Byrd made a few return trips to Bank of America Stadium as a visiting player, most recently during Week 10 last season when the Panthers won, 25-15. Now, he’ll get to experience The Bank as a good guy.

Byrd has lined up against a couple of the Panthers’ current cornerbacks, including Donte Jackson, against whom he’s battled quite a few times during this year’s training camp.

“He’s just the definition of a savvy vet,” Jackson said. “He knows what to do and when to do it, he knows when to turn it on and when not to.”

Feeling like a veteran

Byrd said he’s continued to adapt to different coaches, playing styles, quarterbacks — essentially, anything that can change from team to team.

Having gained experience early on with the Panthers from 2016-2018, he created a foundation for himself that he said allowed him to be flexible with the differences each team presented. There were some growing pains — having to learn new routes and blocking patterns nearly every season — but Byrd said he’s welcomed it.

“You get the appreciation for how big the game is,” Byrd said. “How many different philosophies there are, how many different ways of attacking the game there are. And you end up learning how to adapt, you end up learning to grow your game in different aspects.”

There’s only a handful of players Byrd played with who are still in Charlotte. He said while it has been a few years, he still feels like a veteran around the Panthers. In fact, the coaching staff and front office has changed since his original departure in 2018.

Byrd’s homecoming may have been the right fit on both sides: The receiver gets to come home and the Panthers pick up some more depth, though that depth puts Byrd in an interesting situation early in training camp. He’s likely to make the active roster, but the bigger question mark is, where?

And it just might work out that the speedy veteran could turn some heads in Carolina again.

“He’s the guy who brings everything,” Jackson said. “He’s gonna bring that edge, that speed. He’s gonna just be that veteran. And that he’s played a lot of ball, you can just tell.”