When NFL teams evaluated Princeton offensive lineman Henry Byrd, they looked at game film and a tap dancing video.

When Byrd was a student at Ensworth High in Nashville, Tenn., he took up tap dancing. He said it has helped his footwork in football.

“Teams were asking for (the video),’’ Byrd said in leading up to last week’s NFL draft. “They just wanted to see it for themselves.”

So Byrd’s agent, Joe Linta, sent out to teams the video of Byrd tap dancing during a high school production of ‘Singin’ in the Rain.” And when scouts interviewed Byrd, that came up.

“It was always, ‘How do you think that translated to football?’’’ Byrd said.

Perhaps it didn’t help his football enough as Byrd went undrafted. But after Saturday’s third and final day of the event, he agreed to sign with the Broncos as a free agent.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Byrd played left tackle for the Tigers and was a two-time All-Ivy League selection. However, he could be moved to guard in the NFL.

“The Broncos really weren’t on my radar until near the end, but then I had a really good conversation with (offensive line coach Zach) Streif,’’ Byrd told The Denver Gazette. “And I really liked him and his coaching philosophy. And to get a chance to play for (coach) Sean Payton, that’s something you don’t take lightly.”

Byrd wasn’t invited to the combine. He said the Broncos did send a scout to his pro day.

“I was pretty realistic on it,’’ said Byrd, who was rated by draft analyst Dane Brugler as the No. 23 guard prospect in the draft. “I’m a guy that’s a late bloomer. I knew I was on some (draft) boards, but it wasn’t a huge surprise or anything (not being selected).”

Before Byrd ended up at Princeton, he was a 6-5, 240-pound student at Ensworth who played football, basketball and lacrosse. In the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, he was a backup basketball center to James Wiseman, who would go on to become the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA draft by Golden State and is now with Detroit.

“I played on the basketball team just to get front-row seats to see this NBA lottery pick every single game,’’ Byrd said. “There was a rebound (in practice) once and I went to go box him out and he just grabbed it over my head and dunked on me, and I was like, ‘This sport is not in my future.’’’

Wiseman, who was one class behind Byrd, played at Ensworth his freshman and sophomore seasons before finishing his high school career at Memphis (Tenn.) East. That left Byrd to be the starting center as a senior in 2017-18, and he said he averaged “maybe like two points a game and a couple of rebounds.”

Around that time, Byrd also got into tap dancing. He said the school had an arts class requirement and he took one called Dance for Athletes.

“A thing we did there was tap dancing, and I really started liking it, so I stuck with it,’’ Byrd said. “It was a pretty great translation to football because a big thing is footwork.”

A drawback was the shoes he had to wear.

“I had to squeeze into size 12, two sizes too small for me,’’ he said. “They don’t make tap dancing shoes in my size.”

After he got to Princeton, Byrd left tap dancing behind. But his roommate, Princeton left guard Zackary Zambrano, eventually located the video that would later be sent to NFL teams.

“I thought it was awesome,’’ Zambrano said. “It’s like a cool video, especially seeing somebody as big as Henry learning to tap dance.”

Zambrano said it didn’t take long at Princeton for him to realize Byrd might have a shot at the NFL.

“He stood out with his work ethic and his dedication,’’ Zambrano said. “I think you could see early on that he had the opportunity to be something special.”

Zambrano admires Byrd’s versatility. Byrd graduated with a history degree last December with a 3.4 grade-point average. He wrote his senior thesis on country music in the 1950s and 1960s, and Zambrano said he also “has been learning the banjo for the past couple of years.”

For now, Byrd’s focus will be to join the hardly extensive list of former Princeton players to have made the NFL. The only one to see game action last season was Las Vegas wide receiver Jesper Horsted, who caught three passes for 19 yards, although Cincinnati did just select Tigers wide receiver Andrei Iowivas in the sixth round.

Fullback John Lovett is on Miami’s roster, but hasn’t gotten into a game since he played in eight for Green Bay in 2020. Byrd has been been getting pointers about the NFL from Lovett, who was his Princeton teammate in 2018, and he also has talked with former Princeton offensive lineman Ross Tucker. Tucker played in the NFL from 2001-07 and is now a broadcaster.

“He tells me, ‘Just go all out and leave nothing to chance,’’’ Byrd said. “He tells me to just be like a sponge and absorb everything, coaching, the playbook.”

As for going to Denver, Byrd has gotten advice from Princeton quarterback Blake Stenstrom, who is from Highlands Ranch and is a transfer from Colorado. Stenstrom has provided restaurant recommendations and welcomed Byrd to visit family members.

“As the draft went on, the Broncos were one of the top destinations that I wanted to go if I did end up falling out of the draft,’’ Byrd said. “I’m just glad it worked out.”