Tyler Guyton is all about family, and really loves his new one: the Dallas Cowboys | Bohls
FRISCO — Tyler Guyton’s all about family.
And by virtue of his selection as a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, he’s now about his extended family as well.
Heck, his father, Alvin Guyton, was so pumped up that his son was chosen by their favorite team that Tyler recounted the Cowboys’ home blowout win over the Jets last September that his father got onto the field and planted a big smooch on the midfield Cowboys star at AT&T Stadium.
“I’ve been to plenty of games there,” said Tyler Guyton, accompanied by his parents, brother and friends at The Star on Friday. “Went to two this past season. But my best memory was after one game, my dad got to kiss the star on the field. That was always on his bucket list.”
Tyler’s got his own bucket list and seems bent on making some even better memories at AT&T Stadium once he embarks on his NFL career as the Cowboys’ left tackle. He’s only started one game on that side, but made nine starts at right tackle where he protected the blind side of Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma’s left-handed quarterback.
He’s never drawn more acclaim than honorable mention All-Big 12 this past season, but if the Manor product lives up to his billing as a first-round talent, he’ll be the object of a lot of affection from his dad and Cowboy Nation.
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After all, Guyton says he’ll bring a mean streak to the game.
“Off the field, I’m a cool guy,” he said. “I like to laugh and show love, but on the field, I want to hurt people. Naturally my tendency as a player is to be violent.”
Tyler Guyton's heroes have always been Cowboys
Jerry Jones seemed to appreciate his newest Cowboy’s enthusiasm and intensity.
He was blown away by the jaw-dropping appreciation the 6-foot-8, 322-pound lineman had for the franchise and Jones. He and his entourage all wore No. 60 blue Cowboy jerseys Friday. After his first ride on a private jet to get to the Metroplex, the Guytons were given a tour of the stadium and the locker room where his personalized jersey hung from his locker. That was given to his dad, who wore it as proudly as the broad smile plastered on his face.
Alvin also clutched a rolled-up T-shirt that the family had made. On the front was a picture of his late mother, Gracie Mae Guyton, cradling the baby Tyler soon after he was born. She died 2½ years ago.
“She was a big Dallas Cowboys fan,” Alvin said. “My chest is through the roof right now. I love the gratitude Tyler uses as a foundation. This is totally surreal. Just indescribable.”
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Jones beamed as well and lauded Guyton for his emotional shoutout to his entire family.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a player as emotionally proud to be here as Tyler,” Jones said. “That’s a major plus. Obviously I want to carry this forward. But he has to have big, serious intent and focus to get it done.”
A probably wise move from basketball to football
Guyton certainly has that despite a background that was more strongly rooted in basketball.
Oh, he played some Pee-Wee football, but didn’t fully embrace football until his final year of high school at Manor. That was his third high school in four years after two different stints at Vista Ridge and one at LBJ where his dad had played basketball before continuing his career in that sport at Midwestern State.
“I was a 2 (guard),” Alvin said. “But I wanted to be a 1.”
His son could probably have been anything he wanted to be. He was an AAU teammate of Jamal Shead before the latter moved on and became the Big 12 player of the year and an All-American guard with the Houston Cougars.
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From Manor to Fort Worth to Norman to Dallas
Tyler might have followed him there, but for the pleas of the Manor football coaches who finally convinced him to renew his interest in the sport. Why did it take so long?
“I thought I was a basketball player,” he said. “I think I have some quick feet. Comparison-wise, I think I play more like LeBron. I have a little basketball skill.”
Tyler had always played defensive line, but finally gave in and switched to the offensive side and realized “offense wasn’t that bad,” his dad said.
While he had dabbled at running back, quarterback, defensive tackle and tight end and once caught a touchdown pass in a cameo role, Guyton was destined to stay on offense. He caught another scoring pass as an H-back at TCU, the only school that offered him a football scholarship.
Texas had always been Tyler’s favorite school, “but they never offered,” Alvin said. “They looked at him. Twice. And when Gary Patterson went there (as an analyst to Steve Sarkisian after being fired at TCU), we thought things might work out, but we never heard back from them.”
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So after two years in Fort Worth, one as a redshirt, he transferred to OU where he impressed the coaching staff and made 14 starts without allowing more than two sacks in 663 pass attempts.
Bill Bedenbaugh, the legendary line coach for the Sooners who has groomed 11 linemen into NFL draft picks, couldn’t have been more impressed with Guyton.
“He’s the most talented guy I’ve ever coached,” he said.
Guyton appears to be a natural talent with excellent football skills and a nasty mindset that should translate well in the NFL when he will be asked to replace seven-time All-Pro tackle Tyron Smith. If nothing else, the Cowboys' judgment in taking offensive linemen early can be trusted because of a strong track record. They've taken four of them in the first round in the last 13 years and all were Pro Bowlers, including Smith and Travis Frederick and Zach Martin. Those three alone had 22 Pro Bowl seasons.
But then, why wouldn’t Guyton's genetics have prepared him for this role. His paternal and maternal grandparents stood 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9.
The whole atmosphere all but overwhelmed the family in Friday's lovefest. Tyler even joked that he was never taking off the Cowboy jersey he stretched to its limits Friday and would do everything in his power to make Dallas proud.
That went double for his dad.
“Yeah,” Tyler added, “my dad laid on the star and hugged it today.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dallas Cowboys love their new family-oriented tackle Tyler Guyton
