BRYSON WALKER

MADE HIMSELF HEARD ON FRIDAY NIGHTS FOR LOYD STAR FOOTBALL

Coaches of every sport will tell you that their own voices only carry so much weight with the student-athletes they lead.

A coach can motivate and direct and teach the game — but the best teams have leadership from within. They have players, usually seniors, that will speak up and hold fellow team members accountable.

Every great player isn’t a vocal leader, some are more comfortable letting their actions speak for themselves.

One thing you can not do is try and lead vocally if you’re not a difference maker on the field or court. You’ve got to walk-the-walk so that you can talkthe-talk.

Loyd Star had a senior offensive lineman last season in Bryson Walker that talked it and walked it.

I wish he was here now to read those words, but Bryson left us on July 4, 2022.

He left a large extended family. Parents and brothers and sisters that loved him wholeheartedly and who now miss him to depths that the English language can’t describe.

The brotherhood of Loyd Star football — the players on the team today and those who’ll play in the future — are better off for having Bryson Walker as part of their program.

As a rule, you’d prefer to have the brightest players on your team as members of the offensive line.

The position requires linemen to think on the fly and to adapt to what the defensive players in front of them are doing on each play.

Last year Loyd Star had a season to remember as the Hornets went 9-2 and a big part of that came from a rushing attack that piled up 2,676 yards on the year.

The backbone of that ground game was a strong, experience offensive line.

The heartbeat of that line was Bryson

CLIFF FURR

Walker. You’d often hear him before you’d see him. Bryson would grunt with effort as he finished blocks. He played to the whistle and sometimes through the whistle as he did all he could to finish each block. He’d grab the jersey of a teammate who committed a dumb penalty and let them know if they were hurting the team.

Loyd Star lineman Trevor Smith got a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty last season for a late hit during a game. Bryson was practically dancing on his toes in anger at the mistake.

Trevor, who played beside Bryson and was a year behind his line-mate in school, surely didn’t have the same reaction when the shoe was on the other foot against Bogue Chitto and Bryson was ejected from the game for a penalty.

“We said that night that we had to win the game for Bryson (Loyd Star did 26-24),” said Smith. “This year that’s what we’re going to do every week — we’re going to try to win every time for Bryson.”

Loyd Star has had solid depth along the line over the last few years for a 2A school of their size, which meant that all of the offensive linemen didn’t have to play every down on the defensive side of the ball.

That’s when you’d hear Bryson Walker’s voice the loudest along the sideline of W.E. “Sambo” Smith Field.

He’d have any other starting o-linemen around him as they talked about adjustments that needed to be made. It’s an overused generalization, but he truly was a coach on the field for his position group for LS coach Bryan Ford.

As a senior, Bryson stood a shade under 6-foot and weighed around 240-pounds. He started slimming up as soon as football season finished as he was also a captain on a playoff qualifying soccer team at Loyd Star for coach Jordan Lea.

Playing on the backline of his team’s soccer formation, his vocal leadership was even more pronounced in futbol than it was in football.

He was a difference maker. He wasn’t just another warm body on the team. He was someone that mattered — on and off the field.

His all-out effort was an embodiment of why we all still love high school athletics.

I’d like for his parents Billy and Renea to know that I’ll never forget their son.

I’ll never forget watching Bryson as a sophomore, when he got to live an offensive lineman’s dream and play fullback for a young, rebuilding Loyd Star team.

I’ll never forget seeing him on a team alongside his brother Brantley. Though not twins, they were lucky enough to be in the same grade and had a relationship that would make you jealous for a sibling bond like theirs.

I’ll never forget seeing and hearing him play the game he loved on hot Mississippi Friday nights in the fall.

I’ll never forget his leadership or his passion.

I’ll never forget Bryson Walker.

Cliff Furr is the sports editor at The Daily Leader. He can be reached via email at sports@dailyleader.com