David Byrd, 21, was in the intensive care unit of University Hospital and listed in critical but stable condition Monday.

The senior defensive back from Schenectady, N.Y., was wounded five times and required several hours of surgery, hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Paice said.

Authorities said the fight involved 60 to 75 people in the street outside Sadie's Place, and it's unclear what triggered the violence. Syracuse Mayor Roy Bernardi wants to shut the bar.

Byrd was one of three players injured in the melee that happened around 1 a.m. Sunday.

Also hurt were junior defensive end Duke Pettijohn, 22, of Mattapan, Mass., and sophomore reserve lineman Giovanni DeLoatch, 20, of Teaneck, N.J.

Pettijohn was treated at St. Joseph's Hospital for cuts to his body and head and released. DeLoatch was admitted to St. Joseph's with cuts to the body and head and was listed in stable condition. He was being held for observation Sunday night but was expected to be released, university spokesman Kevin Morrow said.

A fourth victim, Myles Thomas, of Boston, a friend of one of the players, was listed in critical condition Sunday night at University Hospital. A second friend from Boston, Daniel Moore, was treated at St. Joseph's and released, a nursing supervisor said.

Police arrested a pair of 22-year-old men Sunday and expected to apprehend more. Cheiron Thomas was charged with first-degree gang assault and second-degree assault, and Trequill Stackhouse was charged with first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault.

The violence came hours after Syracuse's 24-23 loss to Boston College, a big underdog, in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Dave Sackett said the men did not appear to be targeted in the attack because they were football players. There is a possibility it started over people staring at each other, Sackett said.

Police said the five unarmed victims were overpowered by more than a half-dozen attackers, many of whom had weapons. At least one of the victims was beaten to the ground by several suspects as another stabbed him, police said.

When police arrived at the scene, several victims were bleeding badly, Sackett said. Two knives were recovered from the scene, he said.

"This place was labeled off-limits to the football team from day one," Bernardi said. "It was senseless violence. Some of the members of the group were people who have been in trouble with us before."

Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni, who spent much of the day at the two hospitals, said he was "shocked and saddened that such an incident could occur."

"The initial police investigation indicates that our players and the other individuals hospitalized were victims of a vicious attack," he said. "Our program discourages student-athletes from going to a place like (Sadie's Place)."

Pasqualoni met with the team Sunday to reinforce the importance of avoiding "this kind of establishment."

"Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrible incident and their family members," athletic director Jake Crouthamel said.

Sadie's is owned by Evelyn Blake, the wife of Onondaga County Sheriff's Deputy Walter Blake.

In February, a Syracuse man was stabbed twice there after breaking up a fight between a man and his girlfriend. And last November, former Syracuse football star Antwaune Ponds started a fight with a woman outside Sadie's that ended with Ponds putting a 6-inch knife to the woman's throat, according to police. He was charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.