Damiere Byrd catches on with new team, joins another former Gamecock

Former South Carolina football star Damiere Byrd will join a familiar face with his new team.

He’ll be joining former Gamecock Pharoh Cooper on the Arizona Cardinals roster the team announced Tuesday. The pair played together in 2013 and 2014.

He signed a one-year deal.

“I still think we need to look at somebody outside who can take the top off a little bit and scare people as a vertical threat,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury told the team’s website. “It looked like last year that was lacking a little bit particularly when Christian (Kirk) got hurt. They’ll sit on you in this league if you don’t have one guy that scare you.”

Byrd spent the past four seasons with the Carolina Panthers, who signed him after the draft in 2015. He has played in 17 NFL games, having caught 12 passes for 113 yards. He had also worked as a returner.

He was most known for his speed, having run a 4.28 40-yard dash at South Carolina’s pro day.

In college, he caught 68 passes for 1,265 yards and 10 scores. His best season was 2013, when he had 33 catches for 575 yards.

Cooper was cut by the Los Angeles Rams during the 2018 season and landed with the Cardinals in December.