The following was written by John Frierson for Georgiadogs.com. To view the original article, click here.
At the end of CJ Byrd’s sophomore season at Georgia, the safety made three tackles in the Bulldogs’ 31-24 win over Virginia Tech in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. He had no idea at the time how important the huge fast-food chain would be in his life.
Now the Senior New Restaurant Principal Lead at the Chick-fil-A Support Center, what the company calls its headquarters, Byrd has spent the past decade working his way up the ladder on the corporate side of Chick-fil-A. But is he the highest-ranking employee at Chick-fil-A to have actually played in the Chick-fil-A Bowl?
“Ooh, that’s a really good question. Probably so,” said Byrd, who lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, Joi, and their young son, Zion.
Byrd is one of two 2024 recipients of the Arch Award, presented by Piedmont Bank and the UGA Athletic Association. The annual award is given to former Bulldogs who have built successful businesses or successful careers in the business world. This year’s second recipient is former men’s golfer Nick Cassini. Both honorees will be recognized at Saturday’s football game against Mississippi State.
“I’m truly grateful and humbled by this,” he said.
As a freshman backup and special teams player in 2005, Byrd had six tackles, As a sophomore, Byrd made eight tackles and returned a blocked punt 12 yards for a touchdown against UAB. Byrd started every game his final two seasons, making 44 stops and intercepting a pass as a junior, and finishing his career with 49 tackles as a senior. He was second on the team in pass breakups as a junior and senior.
Byrd played in every game during his four years, and in his time as a Bulldog, Georgia won the SEC in 2005 and the 2007 Sugar Bowl. He said one of his favorite memories from his career was the famous “Blackout” game against Auburn, in which the Bulldogs wore black jerseys and most of Georgia’s fans at Sanford Stadium donned black, as well, for the 45-20 rout of the Tigers.
“Having black jerseys really just felt like a rumor, I thought it would never happen, and the fact that it happened against Auburn, and the way in which we did it, it ended up being a surprise for us players and we also got a chance to surprise the fans,” he said. “We came out (for warmups) in our red jerseys, and then we later came out in our black jerseys. That was truly an exciting time for me.”
Byrd also noted Georgia’s 42-30 win over Florida in his junior year. It was the only time the Bulldogs beat the Gators during his four seasons. And it was the game in which the team rushed the field after Georgia scored its first touchdown.
“We ran on the field and had a little bit of a dance party,” he said with a laugh. “In those moments of fun, you can always look back and think about the pictures, the relationships, and the guys that were there.”
After graduating from Georgia, Byrd wasn’t sure where life would take him professionally. He thought he might stay around football, and he aspired to be an athletic director one day. He pursued that for a few years, working as an assistant in the development office and as an assistant to the Director of Football Operations while working on his master’s degree. After interning at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, he later spent a year as an academic advisor at Texas A&M.
In 2014, Byrd began his career at Chick-fil-A.
“Man, I never thought in a million years that I’d be working for a fast-food company, but it has been the most life-changing opportunity for me,” he said.
While interning at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Byrd got his first glimpse at how Chick-fil-A operates. “I realized there was something different, something unique about Chick-fil-A,” he said. He inquired about career opportunities at the company and was told there weren’t any at the time, but he never forgot the feeling he had while being around Chick-fil-A as an intern.
Byrd later got an opportunity in Chick-fil-A’s leadership development program, working around the country as an interim operator or manager at corporately-owned restaurants. From there, he worked his way up in a variety of roles to where he is today, in his third year in field operations, helping franchisees open new restaurants.
If you’re wondering about how Chick-fil-A handles customer service so well, it’s not by accident.
“We do that with hiring great people,” Byrd said. “I’m always amazed by the talent that we’re able to attract and keep.”
Byrd has found a talent in another area in the past few years: woodworking. He has started building and selling his own furniture. He’d never done woodworking before, and the impetus for it came from getting married and his wife wanting some better furniture for the house.
“I’m a bit frugal, and she wanted a new dining room table. I was like, ‘Hey, I think I could probably build something for half the price,’ he recalled. When Joi pointed out that he didn’t know how to do anything like that, Byrd said, “I think I could probably figure it out.”
And he did, finding a new hobby and passion in the process.
“I bought a few tools and started going at it, trying to figure this thing out,” he said. “And I realized that I enjoy building things from scratch.”
Byrd said his first attempt at a dining room table wasn’t great, but his next attempt is in their house now.
“I developed the skills and I have the right tools to do those things,” he said. “That’s how this all started, and it’s grown over time. I have a passion for it now; I enjoy building things from scratch.”
In football, in the corporate world, in woodworking, you need the right skills and tools to succeed. And Byrd clearly has them.
