Tyler Boyd Reminisces on Clairton, Pitt and Looks to the Future Ahead

PITTSBURGH — Tyler Boyd is one of the greatest football players in western Pennsylvania history and received the greatest honor with the announcement that he would join the WPIAL Hall of Fame Class of 2024, Wednesday at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.

Boyd starred for Clairton football from 2009-12, leading his team to a 63-1 record from 2009-12 and winning four straight WPIAL and PIAA Class 1A Titles. When he graduated, he held the record for most touchdowns in WPIAL history, 117, and ranked fifth in rushing yards, 5,755. He earned a selection to play in the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and his performance in the Big 33 Classic, where he scored five touchdowns and scored on a kick return, run, two catches and a pass, earned him MVP honors.

Despite it being more than 11 years since he last played high school football, Boyd fondly remembers his time on Clairton and hopes to serve as a role model for those in his community.

“First of all, I just want to say I’m very thankful and very appreciative of being honored with such an historic and prestige award, getting inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame,” Boyd said. “It means a lot to me because of where I came from. Lot of poverty. Nothing really positive going on there other than sports and I made that one of my primary goals in my life is just to stay positive, play sports and just change the world. Motivate people to do better with themselves.”

The winning streak exemplified Boyd and teammates, their great play and the toughness they exemplified throughout their tenure. They would win all 63 games consecutively and the 66-game winning streak, which continued for three games after Boyd graduated, served as the longest in high school football in the country at the time.

“It was everything to us,” Boyd said. “The winning streak was our biggest flex. I don’t really care too much about my stats individually and things like that. Like I said, we pride ourselves on playing sports. Football especially. We went out there every single weekend and did what we were supposed to do. It’s a great story now to tell and I’m very, very happy and thankful to be a part of that.”

One of the greatest moments for Boyd during that winning streak was the 2010 PIAA 1A Championship game against Riverside. Clairton found themselves down 24-0, but Boyd would play a big role in the comeback, with more than 100 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, en route to a 36-30 victory.

“That kind of started my career,” Boyd said. “That’s when I became who I was. That’s when everything started to come in with [college] offers and attention and things like that. That’s when the streak started to become something.”

Boyd spends a lot of this time trying to help those in the Clairton community, along with his mother, who try to give children opportunities to succeed, especially when it comes to sports.

“Try to give back as much as possible,” Boyd said. “My mom does a great job because we still kind of run the youth little league organization. I do anything I can to help those kids just staying active. Doing things that’s keeping them off the streets. We started to do a basketball league for the kids and just sending all-star kids to Florida and things like that. So just anything I can do to send these kids in the right direction, I’m all for it.”

Despite offers from elsewhere, Tyler Boyd stayed local for college and played three seasons for Pitt. He excelled for his hometown team and holds the program record with both 254 receptions and 3,361 receptions in a career, despite having a number of different head coaches during his time.

“I think my journey was kind of a rollercoaster, upside-down, because I had two head coaches, starting with [Paul] Chryst, had three different receivers’ coaches,” Boyd said. “So, I mean I just had to adjust with change and that comes with business…

Tyler Boyd and Pat Narduzzi talk during the Blue Gold game April 13, 2019 — David Hague/PSN

“[Pat Narduzzi] specifically, he’s the specific definition of a blue-collar guy. He’s goin’ get it out the mud and going make sure you’re working and every day you earn it. I think that’s the main reason he’s continuing to coach at Pittsburgh.”

Boyd has kept in touch with former Pitt players in quarterback Kenny Pickett, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and wide receiver Jordan Addison, now with the Minnesota Vikings. He loved their performances in 2021, which saw Pickett finish as a Heisman finalist, Addison a Biletnikoff winner and both of them and the program as ACC Champions.

“I just cherish them times because you’re just happy that players accomplished things that I always wanted to,” Boyd said. “That’s my alma mater and I was super joyful. I watched every step of the way and that was just something that was destined for that organization. I done seen it…and those guys deserved it.”

The Cincinnati Bengals would draft Tyler Boyd in the Second Round in the 2016 NFL Draft and he has played the last eight seasons with them. He has made 513 catches for 7,000 yards and 31 touchdowns during that time and has served as a mainstay during the franchise’s rebuild in the earlier part of his career through their more recent success.

“It’s everything because they gave me my opportunity,” Boyd said about the Bengals. “They drafted me and still stuck with me after my first year. They just showed good loyalty and trust in me, and they believed in me. That just hit home for me because, coming from Clairton, I didn’t have much belief. It’s a small single-a school and every step of the way, I went and got my degree from college. I always had doubters. I always had people that said that I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t play at a high level of competition. So very grateful for those guys to give me that opportunity.”

His time with the Bengals has seen him play with Andy Dalton for his first four seasons and then Joe Burrow the past four. Burrow, along with an improved wideout room with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, helped the franchise make the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship Game in 2022. Despite not winning the Super Bowl, in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Boyd loved every minute of it, and it felt like everything he could’ve ever dreamed of, especially coming from Clairton.

CHARLOTTE, NC – SEPTEMBER 23: Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) celebrates after a touchdown reception during the game between the Carolina Panthers and the Cincinnati Bengals on September 23, 2018 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire)

“It’s probably one of my greatest sports experiences, memories, that I ever had,” Tyler Boyd said. “It just felt surreal. Just the whole environment, the whole city, the whole stage, it’s like the biggest stage in football and very competitive. It brings a tear to your eye because you dream for this moment. It’s almost like a movie, realistically, but once you out there, you kind of want to go out there and just win it.”

Boyd is currently out of contract with Cincinnati, something that is a first for him in the NFL, as he extended his time with the franchise during his third season. At just 29 years old, he still believes he has much to give for any NFL team that would request his services.

“Yes, absolutely,” Tyler Boyd said on continuing to play in the NFL. “I’m a pretty well-trained ear and I’m just a great guy around in the locker room. Bring great camaraderie and guys piggy-back off of me and I motivate guys and I’m just one of those guys that, you know, just enhances everyone’s performance. Just a great player and I definitely feel like they will try to keep me and depending on the value and money, it’s a business, but I would love to come back.”

One potential option for Boyd, that Pitt fans would love to see, is him coming back to play for the Steelers. With his goal of wanting to win a Super Bowl before he retires, a potential partnership with Pickett at Acrisure Stadium and his love for his hometown, that dream might not come as too far-fetched.

Former Pitt WR Tyler Boyd (Photo credit: Mike Vukovcan)

“You never know,” Tyler Boyd said. “I love coach Tomlin. He’s probably one of the realest dudes in the sport’s business. Obviously, I played at Pitt, and I had a lot of run-ins with him and talked to him just about football. His personality is more like a father figure, it’s a great connection, but who knows? Even if I don’t go after this year, I could do a one-year deal at the end of my career and maybe finish up, but who knows.”