Rise and walk - Dennis Byrd

The story of a determined and talented athlete, and a deeply-committed family man with a devoted wife and two daughters, and an unswerving faith in God, whose life was changed in one fateful moment on the American football field.;The book begins with the shock and terror of the accident sustained on the chilly Sunday afternoon of November 29, 1992. Millions of football fans watched in horror as 26-year-old New York Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd crashed into a teammate and didn't get up - his spine and neck were shattered. It tells of the first time he was able to clench the muscle in his thigh, then take his first steps. Dennis talks about his most intimate feelings and the faith that brought him to his remarkable, even miraculous recovery.;Dramatic moments include the first moment he saw his wife's face before he was rushed to the hospital to the post-game prayer session for Dennis held on the field by the Jets and the Buffalo Bills, and Dennis's emotional meeting with paralyzed football player Mike Utley, who sustained a similar injury, but failed to come back.;Dennis also takes readers back to his dirt-poor beginning in Mustang, Oklahoma, where he spent countless hours in the yard with a makeshift tackling dummy, through his success as an All-State Player at Mustang High School, where he set a record of 39 quarterback sacks in his senior year, his years as a second-team All-American at the University of Oklahoma, and his selection as a second-round draft pick by the Jets in 1989. Byrd vaulted to even higher levels of performance with the Jets - the team's sack leader for three seasons, he was a six-foot-five-inch, 270-pound mass of well-conditioned muscle aimed at NFL quarterbacks.;Michael D'Orso is the author of "Somerset Homecoming", "The Cost of Courage" and "For the Children".