Two years removed from a Fourth of July fireworks accident, Jacob Boyd is enjoying college life and excelling in athletics at Benedictine College in Atchison, Ks.
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Boyd, a 2015 Gallatin R-5 graduate, who lost sight in one eye during the 2015 July holiday, hasn’t missed a beat on the competitive athletic field. A recent trip to Europe with the Raven football team served as proof. He also just returned home from a 10-day fishing trip in Canada.
Asked about his motivation to continue playing football after his accident, Boyd didn’t mince words.
“It was always a dream of mine to play college football, ever since I was a little kid,” he said. “I just put my head down and did what I had to do to make it possible.”
Entering his junior year at BC, Boyd fills an important role in the Raven defense at defensive back. He was among 41 players who accompanied Head Coach Larry Wilcox to Germany and Austria to take on the Swarco Raiders, sister team of the Oakland Raiders. The game was in Innsbruck, Austria, at Tivoli Stadium, nestled among the Austrian Alps.
American football has been popular in Austria since 1992. The eight-team Austrian Football League is the highest division in the country and the Raiders were crowned Austrian Bowl XXXI Champions. Swarco started a partnership with the Oakland Raiders in 2008, and for the first time, an NFL franchise began working with a European team.
Boyd could easily make a comparison between Austrian-style football and American college ball.
“I would say they would be middle level in our (Heart of America) conference,” he said. “They were pretty competitive and would fit right in,” he added.
This was the 10th trip to Europe for Wilcox and Raven teams. Prior destinations included Frankfort, Hamburg, Paris, Lucerne, Switzerland and Stockholm.
Benedictine defeated Swarco, 31-29, on a late field goal, but the game was almost secondary to sightseeing and soaking up culture of old European countries.
First traveling to Munich, the team visited museums, went on a bike tour of the city, and stopped at BMW World, a combination of an automobile museum and production line. A sobering trip to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial capped the Germany portion of the trip.
In Austria, Boyd experienced the Alps and the Swarovski Crystal Factory and Museum. The Swarovski group is the primary sponsor of the Swarco Raiders. Following the game, the group visited the Bergisel Ski-Jump, which hosted several Winter Olympics events. Players also made a trip up the Alps by cable car.
“Being in the Alps was amazing,” Boyd says. “The scenery was so beautiful.”
Before returning to Munich for the return trip back to the United States, the group visited Oberammergau, Germany, for lunch and then toured the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in southwest Bavaria.
Benedictine entered the spring as the 2017 season No. 24 ranked team in the NAIA after finishing 7-4, and tied for third place last season in the Heart of America South. The Ravens open their season at home on Aug. 26 against Missouri Valley of Marshall.
Picture: Jacob Boyd chases down a Swarco Raider receiver during action in a recent exhibition football game held in Innsbruck, Austria. The Gallatin R-5 grad is a junior defensive back for the Benedictine College Ravens.