Lehigh University Athletics
Accounting for Success
9/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
The senior class entered Saturday’s game against Towson with a 14-0 record at beautiful and picturesque Goodman Stadium and a 35-1 regular season record. The seniors upped both of those records with a 47-12 victory over the Tigers. The same class will graduate having never lost to an Ivy League opponent in four years. Success has been a way of life for the seniors on the football field. For many of them, including defensive back Abdul Byron, their entire Lehigh experience has been a success.
"Lehigh has been a great experience for me both athletically and academically," said Byron. "I know that when I graduate in June I will have a degree from an excellent business school, will have been a part of championship football program, and will be a better overall person than when I entered Lehigh four years ago."
The road to Lehigh wasn’t an easy one for Byron, and his success on the field and in the classroom required both hard work and determination. He attended three different high schools before landing at Wardlaw Hartridge Prep School his senior year and he became a father at the young age of 16.
"I started high school at Elizabeth High School, then went to Immaculate Conception after my sophomore year," said Byron. "My mom wasn’t too thrilled with the public school I was going to so she decided I’d be better off in Catholic School. I transferred to Wardlaw Hartridge for my senior year because I thought it would help me better prepare for college."
Recruited by a number of schools including Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia, Bucknell, and Lafayette as a running back, Byron chose Lehigh for its combination of academics and close proximity to home.
"Lehigh was a great fit for me because it was a great academic school that was fairly close to home," said Byron. "I wanted to be close to my mom and daughter and some of the other schools didn’t have the academics that Lehigh has. It really came down to Lehigh or Bucknell and Lewisburg was too rural for me."
Byron’s mother was very influential in his decision to come to Lehigh.
"My mom has always been there for me and has helped me to make good choices," added Bryon. "She has always tried to keep me from getting in trouble and put me in a position to succeed."
Succeed he has. A candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award (top defensive player in Division I-AA), Byron will graduate in June with a bachelor’s in accounting and would like to pursue a job with one of the Big Five accounting firms before taking the CPA exam and opening his own accounting practice.
"I’ve enjoyed accounting ever since I took a basic accounting course in high school," said Bryon. "I knew after I had that class, accounting is something I wanted to pursue. The program here at Lehigh is great and I really enjoy some of the professors and their style of teaching."
Byron tabbed Ken Sinclair as one of his favorite professors because of his intense teaching method.
"Professor Sinclair’s style of teaching forces you to learn and be on your toes," added Bryon. "His class (Cost Accounting) is similar to a football game. You have to be ready to go for the entire 75 minutes. If you aren’t prepared for class, he is going to exploit it and force you to be ready."
Sinclair uses the Socratic method of teaching, which enables students to learn critical thinking skills. The method forces students to understand concepts thoroughly rather than just memorize them.
"The Socratic method of teaching and the intensity of the Lehigh accounting curriculum prepares students to be mentally alert, which allows them to make quick yet calculated decisions," said Sinclair. "Abdul’s hard work and intensity in the classroom sharpens his mind and allows him to react more quickly to different situations on the football field. He is sharp in the classroom and on the football field. Abdul is an intense and motivated individual that will be successful in the future."
It is apparent that Bryon’s future as an accountant is a promising one, but what about his future as a football player? While the Mountain Hawks have six regular season game remaining, Byron’s season may go beyond his playing days at Lehigh. Scouts from several different NFL teams have taken a look at Byron both on film and in person, and several have been impressed with what they have seen.
"I’ve seen tape on Byron and was at the game last week against Cornell," said Bobby Burns, a scout with the Washington Redskins. "He has a professional type body and plays with a lot of intensity. He has been getting good write-ups by a number of scouts and he may have a shot to be in someone’s camp next summer."
Regardless of whether or not Byron has a chance to join fellow Lehigh alums Rich Owens, Rabih Abdullah, and Phil Stambaugh in the NFL, he will have an excellent education and will be the first in his family to graduate from college, a feat that will certainly make mom and dad proud.
~Story by Jim Marshall
Sports Information Director
