#54 is Retired - 54 was the first number to be retired in Western Carolina's athletic history
Art Byrd
Years: 1946-49
Art Byrd was Western Carolina's first football All American Selection in 1949 when he helped lead the Catamounts to the North State Conference Championship, the school's first football title. He was a two way player as an offensive and defensive lineman who amazingly was in on every play of every game in the 1948 season.
According to his head coach, Tom Young, Byrd "epitomized the spirit of those fine football teams that put us on the map." Byrd was a catalyst of three winning records in his four seasons (1946-49).
His jersey and number - 54 - was the first to be retired in Western Carolina's athletic history.
Byrd was inducted into the first class of the Western Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990
