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'''Jerry Barksdale Byrd, Sr.''' (October 4, 1935 – April 21, 2016), was a legendary [[journalism|sportswriter]] for the now defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. He covered sports for the newspaper from May 29, 1957, beginning the morning after his graduation from Northwestern State University in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Louisiana. He remained with ''The Journal'' under two different long-term publishers, [[Douglas F. Attaway, Jr.|Douglas Fisher Attaway, Jr.]], and  Charles Thomas Beaird (1922-2006), until the paper ceased daily operations on March 30, 1991.

'''Jerry Barksdale Byrd, Sr.''' (October 4, 1935 – April 21, 2016), was a legendary [[journalism|sportswriter]] for the now defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. He covered sports for the newspaper from May 29, 1957, beginning the morning after his graduation from Northwestern State University in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Louisiana. He remained with ''The Journal'' under two different long-term publishers, [[Douglas F. Attaway, Jr.|Douglas Fisher Attaway]], and  Charles Thomas Beaird (1922-2006), until the paper ceased daily operations on March 30, 1991.

==Background==

==Background==