Harvard's Newest Football "Slash"

Sophomore wide receiver Rodney Byrnes may not be Carl Morris yet. But lately, he has shown the potential to one day reach that level.

“I can only hope to be like Carl Morris,” Byrnes said. “He’s the best player in the Ivy League. He’s done everything, but maybe I can do something a little bit different.”

Byrnes has come to the forefront of the Crimson offense in recent weeks, racking up 402 yards of total offense in the last two games while scoring a pair of touchdowns.

On the season, he has accumulated 696 yards of total offense while scoring four touchdowns. Amazingly, each of the four was touchdowns was scored in a different way. He ran in for a score and returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Cornell. In the season opener versus Holy Cross, Byrnes burst onto the offensive by not only catching a touchdown pass, but also throwing one of his own to Morris.

His stellar performance this season at several positions has drawn comparison to not only teammate Morris, but also Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback and former “slash” player Kordell Stewart.

Byrnes’ role in the offense has ballooned since Harvard coach Tim Murphy decided two weeks ago to better utilize his overall athleticism and versatility.

“I said to [Byrnes], ‘you played tailback in high school, you’ve been playing receiver for a year, we feel like we need to get you the ball more than three or four times a game’,” Murphy said prior to the Cornell game. “He got excited about it and he made the most of it.”

Byrnes’ multi-faceted game on the football field pales in comparison to the triple threat he posed to other high schools during his career at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis.

There he starred in football, basketball and track before coming to Harvard last year. Blazing fast, he was honored as the MVP of his track team in his last two seasons. But his true love has always been football.

And if the accolades earned during his high school career offer any insight into Byrnes’ future, then Harvard has a lot to look forward to.

Byrnes played both offense and defense in high school, starting as a tailback and free safety all four years. The greatest testament to his skills as both an athlete and football player, however, is not his Deion Sanders-like ability to play both ways, but his ability to fill in as needed in order to help the team win.

In his senior year, when his team’s quarterback fell victim to injury, Byrnes was there to pick up the pieces and lead the team to victory—as the new starting quarterback.

“I just play where I am needed,” Byrnes said.

He was twice awarded the honor of team MVP and was selected to be a member of the All-City and State teams both his junior and senior years.

Moreover, in his senior year alone, Byrnes was rated one of the Indiana Preseason Tremendous 25, the Herald Top 33 and the Coaches’ Top 50 and was also made a member of the All-Super Team.

Byrnes set Cardinal Ritter records for career rushing, after accumulating more than 4600 yards, and career touchdowns, scoring 92 times in his four years.

“I was the first person to get a Division 1-A scholarship in my high school in about ten years,” Byrnes said.

He has so far this season presented a quadruple threat to opposing teams, and currently ranks first on the team in kickoff return yardage, second in receptions and receiving yardage, third in passing and fourth in attempted rushes and rushing yards.

“That [credit] goes to the coaches,” Byrnes said. “They told me they wanted to give me the ball more, and at first I was reluctant, but they’ve done a great job.”

Thus far it has been rather hard for teams to prevent Byrnes from burning them.

And it has not only been the sheer quantity of Byrnes’ gains but their timeliness which has made him such a devastating force.

Two weekends ago, Byrnes returned a kickoff for a touchdown and in so doing quashed Cornell’s momentum and placed the game squarely back in Harvard’s possession.

In a losing effort this weekend against Northeastern, Byrnes’ 41-yard rush set up a vital Crimson touchdown which ultimately allowed Harvard to make its final, unsuccessful push.

Murphy has sought to diversify the offensive attack in order to free up primary offensive weapon Morris, with Byrnes reaping the benefits.

“There are certain formations that the athleticism is a necessity with some teams double covering Carl,” Murphy said.

Byrnes certainly has athleticism to spare.

“I’ve played football since I was seven or eight,” Byrnes said. “I’ve always been doing a little bit of everything for as long as I can remember.”

The way he has played, Byrnes and his ability to thrive all around the field will be remembered for a long time.