- February 10, 2025
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When West Orange High School special education teacher and Unified flag football co-coach Karen Smith was asked to recommend one of her student-athletes with special needs to submit an application to a vague program involving the NFL and its Pro Bowl festivities, she knew exactly who to nominate: Tyler Boyd.
Initially, Smith wasn’t given all the details for the program. All she knew was there was a chance at free tickets to the NFL’s 2025 Pro Bowl Games and the program would involve a hefty amount of social interaction.
“All we knew was that whatever was going to happen, it was going to involve talking to NFL players and possibly having to film some things,” Smith said. “We were given very vague specifics about the whole thing. Essentially … they really wanted an outgoing kid, and Tyler is by far our most outgoing kid. He is extremely social and extremely friendly, so he just seemed like the perfect fit for this. A lot of the kids on the team can get overwhelmed, especially in big settings. Not Tyler, though, so I figured he would love it.”
Encouraged by Smith and with the hopes of free tickets to the Pro Bowl, the Boyds figured it couldn’t hurt to submit some videos of Tyler playing his favorite sports.
“This all really came together from his teacher, Karen Smith, who is incredible,” said Kenneth Boyd, Tyler’s father. “Karen just said that if we created a video, we might be able to get tickets to the Pro Bowl. … We really didn’t understand what it was, so we just submitted a bunch of videos of him playing all these sports, and he answered some questions over the top of it, and then, lo and behold, we find out what this really was.”
The mysterious program Smith thought Tyler would be perfect for ended up being the NFL PLAY 60 Super Kid activation — an annual program organized by the NFL to recognize young people who demonstrate a dedication to living an active and healthy lifestyle by participating in youth sports at that season’s Super Bowl and Pro Bowl Games as part of the league’s PLAY 60 initiative, which empowers millions of youth to get physically active for at least 60 minutes per day.
Along with Hayes Audler from Louisiana, who will be the NFL PLAY 60 Super Kid at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Tyler was selected to be Super Kid at the Pro Bowl Games held at Camping World Stadium in Downtown Orlando.
But instead of letting Tyler know right when they were informed, just as Smith knew Tyler would be perfect for this program, she knew that how they told Tyler he was going to be an NFL Super Kid had to match the kind of kid he was.
“Planning the reveal was very overwhelming,” Smith said. “I had seen past videos of Super Kid reveals, and a lot of times, it was just them at home. And honestly, I didn’t feel like that would be appropriate for Tyler. He’s very outgoing and energetic, so I knew immediately that we had to do something that matched his personality and that he’d really enjoy. Right away, we started organizing this and every person I asked for help from the photographer, videographer, students — everybody jumped at the opportunity to celebrate Tyler. Even, my principal was like, ‘Yes, we can absolutely call all these kids out of class in the middle of the school day for this.’”
With the full power of the West Orange Warriors community, Smith and the Boyd family organized a surprise reveal party for Tyler in the form of a pep rally — that included the Warriors marching band, the West Orange Unified flag football team and cheer team and the headliner, a video from one of Tyler’s favorite NFL players, Kenny Moore II, announcing he was selected as the NFL PLAY 60 Super Kid.
“Tyler is an absolute bundle of joy off- and on-campus,” Smith said. “There’s a reason everybody was so ready to make this moment happen for him. Because everyone here at West Orange knows and loves him. As a coach, he’s amazing to work with. He is extremely competitive, loves to play with his friends and will often be the loudest one on the court. He also does a really good job of maintaining composure. He doesn’t typically get upset or angry if we don’t win a game, and he doesn’t pout about it. He loves to socialize, and if you put him out in the courtyard at school and watch him, he’ll just go around and talk to people, he’ll get at least 15 to 20 high-fives and handshakes. ... He’s just kind and friendly to everybody. The only thing that ever upsets him is when someone else isn’t happy.”
Given Tyler’s personality, his reaction when to finding out that the “pep rally” was actually a celebration in his honor was surpirsing.
“When we found out before Christmas, we decided to keep it a secret from him and surprise him at the pep rally at school,” Kenneth Boyd said. “Tyler’s very emotionally connected to people. His special needs are more geared toward struggling with reading and things like that. So, the idea of watching him get the news at the pep rally, we thought he would just be surprised but what happened was really neat to watch — he teared up a little bit because he was so surprised by it. He didn’t know what to do. It was something that was very cool for me, because you don’t often see your kid that impacted by something. It was pretty special … it might have been the first time I had seen him be speechless. At one point, he starts to get asked some questions for an interview type thing, and usually he is a chatterbox — like a million words a minute, he’ll just keep going — but when they asked him the first question, and he just was looking at everybody … he couldn’t get the words out. … It was pretty cool to see him in that moment.”
With the hope of scoring free tickets to the Pro Bowl, what the Boyds ended up with was a once-in-a-lifetime moment their family will never forget — and tickets to the Pro Bowl, among a heap of other experiences.
Along with Tyler’s pep rally celebration and the specialized message from one of his favorite players, Tyler also had his reaction video featured on Good Morning America. He also will participate in a variety of community events and behind-the-scenes opportunities during the week of the Pro Bowl and during the games he will be recognized on the field in front of the thousands of fans in attendance.
With the game and other experiences still to go as a Super Kid, there’s plenty to look forward to.
“He’s looking forward to the skills competition on Thursday the most, because … he thinks that he’ll have a chance to interact or maybe even play a little catch with one of the guys out there,” Kenneth Boyd said. “He just wants to be out there with them while they’re running around and doing stuff. He is such an active kid like that. He just wants to continually move and do something, which is why sports are a great outlet for him. So he’s really excited about that part of it. I don’t think he understands the whole being on the sideline during the game thing. I think when he looks back at it, being on the sideline during the game will be what he remembers the most. To see you know that many people at the game and all the activity happening around will be something he’ll enjoy and be impacted by the most. … I don’t think he cares much about interviews, to be honest. That kind of stuff just isn’t really on his radar. He did think it was really cool that he was on Good Morning America for that little spot. I remember we were driving home one of these days after that aired, like 10 minutes into the ride, he called his sister’s name from the back of the car — she’s sitting in the front. She just like, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘I’m famous.’ We all just laughed and were like, ‘Oh my God.’”
Although this experience will be chock full of moments Tyler and the whole Boyd family will surely remember, the part of this experience that will stick out in the mind of Kenneth Boyd isn’t an event or a souvenir. No, what will be forever etched into his mind is how the world was able to see not just his son’s special need but the parts of that make him a special person.
“I’m his dad, so obviously, I think Tyler’s a special kid,” Kenneth Boyd said. “But I just think sometimes, when it comes to special needs kids, it’s hard for a lot of people to see the special part of them. They often just see the disability … but this process really showed the strength Tyler has. I think his selection allowed everybody to focus on how empathetic he is and how he’s so friendly. … So I think that’s the best part about this for me.”