How new Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard will earn his leadership role in Matt Eberflus' defense

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Kevin Byard is aware of what he’s going to be as a Chicago Bear.

He candidly called himself an "elder statesman." He spoke about the youth in the Bears secondary’s core players.

At 30 years old, Byard spoke on the pieces in place with the Bears being a main reason why he chose to sign with Chicago.

"There's a lot of things to be excited about," Byard said. "This defense has a lot of great pieces here for sure, especially in the secondary."

The biggest boon for the Bears, however, is that he’s going to provide leadership in Chicago for a secondary that has the potential to grow into one of the secondary groups in the league.

Byard wants that role. He wants to have a leadership-centered voice for a Bears team entering a pivotal season.

The Middle Tennessee State product can thrive in that leadership role. Not just because he’s been successful as a two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler, but because he knows what he needs to do in order to earn the title of team leader.

"One of the best ways you earn their respect is by showing up every single day, working extremely hard, studying in the classroom, practicing," Byard said. "I've never missed practice before in my career, other than for the birth of my children. 

One of the ways Byard has earned respect in the past is just by being available to his teammates. Just by being there, he can be a good resource. 

That’s a boon for an impressionable Bears’ secondary that includes Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker and Tyrique Stevenson. Each of those players are 24 years old or younger.

"Once you earn that respect, you can kind of gain that," Byard said. "You kind of gain just that respect of the guys."

Coming to Chicago means Byard will need to fill the void left by Eddie Jackson. The six-year safety was released by the Bears in February, creating a need for a free safety on the back end.

In adding Byard, the Bears get a safety who has 28 career interceptions and 749 career tackles across his eight years in Tennessee and Philadelphia.

Byard checked all the Bears’ boxes for what the team was looking for in its next free safety.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus listed those requirements at the NFL Combine.

"He's got to have athletic ability, he's got to have range, he's got to have great communication skills and he's got to have ball skills," Eberflus said on Feb. 27. "Then, eventually grow into a leader."

There were two avenues for the Bears in finding a free safety: signing a free agent or drafting a rookie. Opting for a free agent the Bears are putting the onus on Byard to fill that leadership role. 

"If it's a free agent, he's got to feel the temperature of the room and dive into the leadership role," Eberflus said at the combine.

That leadership role was something Byard mentioned on his own Thursday.

It’s not lost on him that he’s played the game for eight seasons when the average NFL player has an average career length of three seasons, according to ESPN in 2016.

In his ninth year, he’s not trying to prove anyone wrong. He doesn’t care much what others think of him, but he’d rather prove himself right on a daily basis.

"My motivation for me is just continue to do what I've been doing my career, not necessarily worry about age or nothing like that," Byard said. "I can still do all those good things."

Part of that is being blessed. Byard said he’s blessed because he has never missed an NFL practice due to injury.

Being that durable doesn’t mean he’s been injury free. Byard said football has a 100 percent injury rate as a sport. Even when he’s had dings or dents to monitor, Byard made it a priority to keep practicing.

Part of being a nine-year veteran is self-awareness. Byard said taking care of his body is something he takes pride in. This leads into the mentality he has when it comes to being a consistent player year in and year out.

It’s never the same for Byard; he tries to earn every season he has.

"Every single year you had to re-establish yourself," Byard said. "I know these guys were coming off of this second half of the year, they was playing pretty good, but I think you always have to try to reset the clock and reset everything and go out there and go earn it."

Byard said the offseason Organized Team Activities will be an important time to earn not only parts of his role as a free safety but also key respect from his new teammates.

It won’t be extremely difficult. Byard has played with current Bears Khari Blasingame, Nate Davis and DeMarcus Walker in Tennessee. They know what he brings to Chicago.

Now, Byard wants to show the rest of the Bears why he deserves to have a primary leadership role in Chicago.

"They say availability is your best ability," Byard said. "That's been definitely one of my best abilities for sure."

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