SAN ANTONIO -- What ended as the hardest day of Darren Carrington's life began with the intent of being one of the sweetest.



Not since their senior year at suburban San Diego's Horizon High School in 2012 had Carrington and Markel Byrd, best friends, hung out in person before Christmas. Football had brought them together; Carrington the Pop Warner receiver from north of the city and Byrd the quarterback who grew up south of downtown. But football also had kept them apart since graduation, once Carrington left to become one of Oregon's most dynamic big-play receivers in recent memory, while Byrd transitioned to safety at New Mexico. Their schedules never quite meshed around the holidays. Daily calls via FaceTime sufficed.



Before he got into his car and began driving west on Interstate 40 from Albuquerque on the morning of Dec. 20, Byrd called Carrington to let him know that was about to change, and they would soon meet in person.



Carrington told his friend to drive safe and shared that a pair of cleats would be waiting for him. They expressed their love for one another, and Byrd promised he'd call when he was closer to their hometown.



"He never called," Carrington said Sunday. "It was just tragic."



Byrd was killed instantly Tuesday afternoon when he and his passenger, a girlfriend, where ejected from a Chevy SUV when a rear tire blew and caused the single-car accident near the border of Arizona and New Mexico, according to highway patrol. They were traveling to Phoenix to stay the night with Byrd's father before pushing on toward San Diego the next day. Byrd's girlfriend suffered injuries.



Carrington learned of the fatal accident via a far different phone call than the one he expected.

UO safety Tyree Robinson -- who grew up playing basketball and football in the same neighborhood as Byrd since elementary school and considered him "my good friend" -- was on the other line.



"It was hard because I just didn't know how to tell Darren," Robinson said. "When I gave him the phone call and everything, he didn't want to believe it. Only thing I wanted to do is be there for Darren. That was his best, best friend. ... It was shocking because you didn't know, 'why him?' He was such a good kid."



After Oregon held its first Alamo Bowl practice in San Antonio on Sunday, Carrington acknowledged the struggle to process the death, saying he initially thought Robinson had to be lying to him before learning the awful truth from Byrd's mother.



Neither Robinson nor Carrington will go through the grieving process alone. Dozens of Oregon teammates or coaches called to share condolences in the days after Byrd's death. One was Royce Freeman, the sophomore running back who grew up a couple hours east of San Diego and played basketball against Byrd.



"Just incredibly sad," UO coach Mark Helfrich said. "It brings to the fore how important this time is, whether it's your team, your family, loved ones and absolutely we'll talk about it and have talked about it. It's an unfortunate situation but it's another opportunity for a bit of a life lesson and just to realize how lucky we all are."



A return to a structured environment of practices and meetings has helped, as Carrington and Byrd always sought refuge on the field. Lives altered instantly will take far longer to heal, however.



Said Robinson: "It's never going to go away. The pain is just always going to be inside but all we can do is live for him, because that's what he'd want for us, and continue our dreams."



Robinson and Carrington are no strangers to tragedy, and their decision to commit to Oregon was linked to another as a tribute to Todd Doxey, the UO freshman safety and San Diego native who drowned in 2008. His freshman year at Oregon, Robinson said a close childhood friend also died.



Friendship came easily to Robinson, Carrington and Byrd on the field. Carrington met Byrd as an opponent in Pop Warner football, then as a teammate on a club basketball team from sixth grade until high school. At Horizon, as Carrington blossomed into a tall receiver with Stick 'Em hands, Byrd was a four-year starter at quarterback or defensive back and a four-year varsity basketball player at point guard. All three were redshirt sophomores this fall.



New Mexico's season ended Dec. 19 in a loss to Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl. Byrd finished with 44 tackles, none of which was more important than his stop Nov. 14 of Boise State receiver Austin Cottrell four yards short of the end zone as time expired, preserving New Mexico's stunning road upset of the Broncos.





Oregon receiver Darren Carrington is preparing for the Alamo Bowl while mourning the death of his best friend, Markel Byrd.

"It all just hit me," said Carrington, who considered Byrd like family, a "brother." He will wear Byrd's No. 22 in the Alamo Bowl, and perhaps beyond.

"We were inseparable," he said. "We were the same person, honestly. ... Either I was at his house every day or he was at my house."

Both Carrington and Byrd acted as sounding boards for one another during college careers that haven't been without trials. In January, Byrd was the first Carrington told about his suspension for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game due to a failed drug test. Ten months later, the Lobos sat Byrd for one game due to academics before returning as a model student, Lobos coach Bob Davie told the Albuquerque Journal.

"I was scared to call my parents," said Carrington, who missed the first six games of this season due to the suspension yet is second on the team with 502 receiving yards and five touchdowns. "(Byrd) said, 'It's all good, man, you're going to be back and when you're back you're going to put on a show.'"

That show goes on Saturday during the Alamo Bowl against No. 11 TCU. Unlike last season, no national championship stakes ride on the outcome. But it will arrive with an unquestioned newfound purpose for Carrington and Robinson.

"You never know when it could end so you try to have no regrets being here," Robinson said. "We're not just playing for ourselves, we're playing for our whole community back home."

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com