By Brad Greer

Mention the last name Beard to some North Delta fans and automatically  former basketball and softball standout Bradi Beard might come to mind. 

But there is another Beard that has made a name for himself in the past few seasons for the Green Wave

Senior Tyler Beard has been a three-sport letterman in football, basketball and baseball throughout his high school career and while light heartedly admitting to not having the athletic ability of his older sister, playing pick-up games in the back yard certainly helped fine tune his game.

“I think everybody thought I would be as good as her in basketball, but I don’t know if that worked to good,“ joked Beard. “But we did have some pretty good battles on the basketball court, still do sometimes.”

Through eight games this season, Beard has registered 24 tackles and one interception from his cornerback position while catching seven passes for 119 and one touchdown. Beard also registered a 20-yard scoring strike to fellow senior Sam Copeland two weeks ago in a 31-28 loss to Marshall.

The son of Bart and Pam Beard, Tyler was selected to the All-District teams in football and basketball last season and has plans to attend Northwest Community College next fall majoring in agriculture engineering before moving  on to Mississippi State University.

Beard said one of the biggest influences in his life has been his father and what he has instilled in him about hard work and staying humble.

“Tyler has done a good job for us this season. He has made some huge catches on offense—he has thrown a touchdown, caught a touchdown and has been solid on defense.  We are proud of his great work ethic and his ability to go out and give it 100 percent in practice and on game nights,” said North Delta head coach Brandon Ciaramitaro.