Gaston Sports Hall of Fame: Football talent launches Sean Boyd to career at UNC, NFL

When Sean Boyd was in junior high, he remembers being among the throng of 10,000 fans at Ashbrook High Stadium in 1986 to watch the Green Wave complete an unbeaten regular season with a 14-6 season-ending win over crosstown rival Hunter Huss. The electricity of the crowd made an impression on Boyd during a time in his life when coaches were telling him he could have a future in the sport.

"At Highland Junior High, coaches Ken Howell and Mike Somers pulled me to the side one day and told me I would have a chance to play college football if I kept working and improving," Boyd said. "And I remember going to see the Ashbrook-Huss game. It was such a big moment and it was special to watch guys like Junior Hall and Steve Alexander and thinking I wanted to be out there one day."

Boyd eventually starred in the rivalry and many other high school games during his career as a speedy tight end, defensive end and linebacker. Gaston County’s third all-ACC performer at the University of North Carolina and later its third NFL player, Boyd’s success is why he’s been selected as a member of the 2024 induction class for the Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame.

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Boyd stood out in football as well as track and field. Boyd helped Ashbrook football to its fifth, sixth and seventh straight winning seasons when the Green Wave was part of the highly-competitive Southwestern 4A Conference.

As a senior, he  earned all-conference honors and was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas after catching 12 passes for 243 yards with four touchdowns and making 84 tackles with eight quarterback sacks. Ashbrook finished in a four-way tie for the league title that season.

In track and field for coach Roger Dixon, Boyd was so versatile he set records in the discus and shot put while also competing as a 100-meter sprinter and a member of Ashbrook relay teams.

"Coach Dixon took me under his wing at Ashbrook and kept me on the straight and narrow," Boyd said of his track coach and assistant football coach.

As one of the state's top prospects in the Class of 1991, Boyd chose the University of North Carolina when Mack Brown was building a talented roster largely of in-state talent.

North Carolina had gone 1-10 in back-to-back years in 1988 and 1989 before going 6-4-1 the year before Boyd enrolled.

"When I first got there, Mack Brown told our group that we were going to make the difference and turn the program into a winner," said Boyd, who played strong safety at UNC.

UNC went 7-4 in Boyd's redshirt year of 1992, then went 9-3, 10-3, 8-4 and 7-5 with bowl appearances each of the four seasons. "When you saw who was on our team, you just knew we were going to build and win," Boyd said.

Among Boyd's teammates were three-time All-ACC running back Natrone Means and three-time All-ACC defensive lineman Marcus Jones.

In 1993, Boyd was named third team All-ACC defensive back, joining Cherryville's Stan Crisson (Duke wide receiver, 1963) and South Point's Mark Young (Wake Forest, 1985) as previous Gaston County All-ACC honorees. In the years since, South Point's Koren Robinson (NC State wide receiver; 1999, 2000) and Tanner Muse (Clemson defensive back; 2018, 2019) also earned all-ACC recognition.

In his senior year of 1995, Boyd had a career high in tackles of 18 against Syracuse in the season-opener. He was selected to play in two high-level postseason all-star games - the East-West Shrine Game in Palo Alto, California, and the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Four months later, Boyd was headed for the NFL after being a fifth-round draft pick (No. 148 overall) by the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings were well-stocked in the defensive secondary during Boyd's tenure and he was placed on Minnesota's practice squad.

Later that year, the Atlanta Falcons signed Boyd off the practice squad and put him on their active roster. Boyd's NFL debut came in a 31-15 Falcons' win at the New Orleans Saints' on Dec. 8, 1996. It made Boyd the third Gaston County NFL player in history and second in Ashbrook High history.

Boyd was released the next offseason and signed by the Green Bay Packers, before a knee injury ended his pro career.

While his playing days are over, his connection to football is not. He's currently the N.C. Regional Director for the Youth Shrine Bowl, which pits the top middle school players from North Carolina against peers from South Carolina.

"When I set up shop in Gastonia, I started working with the NFL doing football camps and combines all the way down to the high school level," Boyd said. "It's kept me involved and it's something I've really enjoyed.”

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame: Sean Boyd