Jeff Byers Jeff Byers ( born September 7 , 1985 ) is an American football center for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League . He played his college football for the University of Southern California . High school career . Byers attended Loveland High School , where he participated in basketball , track and excelled at football . In 2003 he played both offense and defense : That season , on defense as a defensive lineman , he had 203 tackles , 56 tackles for loss , 10 sacks , 14 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries ( with a touchdown ) . On offense , as a center he recorded 34 pancake blocks in one game and never allowed a sack in his career . Loveland won the Class 4A state championship in 2003 . He was named the 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year , as the nation ' s top high school football player . College career . Although Byers arrived at USC as a center , the Trojans already had then - sophomore Ryan Kalil who kept the position for three seasons ; as a result , he moved to left guard . As a freshman , Byers started 4 and played in all 13 games during the 2004 season , as the Trojans went on to win the National Championship . In the spring before the 2005 season , Byers had hip surgery and missed the entire season under a medical redshirt . He started the 2006 season as a reserve in the opening game against Arkansas , but suffered a back sprain in subsequent week that required surgery . He missed the rest of the season . Byers recovered in time for the 2007 season , where he started all 13 games : 12 starts at left offensive guard and as center against Washington State University . He missed most of the training camps the following spring after contracting Rocky Mountain spotted fever . He was able to recover and was selected as a team captain for the 2008 season . After starting all 12 regular season games , Byers was selected to the 2008 All - Pac - 10 Second Team by conference coaches . Due to the health issues that caused him to miss the 2005 and 2006 seasons , Byers petitioned the NCAA for a " clock - extension waiver " . In December 2008 , the NCAA granted him an additional season of eligibility . Byers received his bachelor ' s degree in business administration in the summer of 2007 , he is currently studying under the Master of Business Administration program at the USC Marshall School of Business . During the 2008 season , USC head coach Pete Carroll had Byers lecture the entire team on the subprime mortgage crisis . He made the 2007 Pac - 10 All - Academic second team . In 2009 , Byers was listed at No . 1 on " Rivals . com ′ s " preseason interior lineman power ranking in 2009 . With the injury of starting center Kristofer O ' Dowd , Byers was moved to starting center for the Trojans 2009 season opener against San Jose State . Professional career . 2010 NFL Draft . Undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft , Byers was signed by his former college coach , Pete Carroll , to the Seattle Seahawks on April 30 , 2010 , but cut before the start of the season . Byers was then added to the Denver Broncos practice squad on September 6 , 2010 . Byers was activated by the Broncos in December 2010 , but released the following summer . Following his release by the Broncos , Byers was added to the Panthers ' practice squad on September 5 , 2011 . He was promoted to the Panthers ' active roster on December 17 , 2011 .