American football player (1935?2022)
American football player
Erich Barnes
![refer to caption](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Erich_Barnes.jpg/220px-Erich_Barnes.jpg) |
|
Position:
| Defensive back
|
---|
|
Born:
| (
1935-07-04
)
July 4, 1935
Elkhart, Indiana
, U.S.
|
---|
Died:
| April 29, 2022
(2022-04-29)
(aged 86)
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
, U.S.
|
---|
|
High school:
| Elkhart High School (Elkhart, Indiana)
|
---|
College:
| Purdue
|
---|
NFL draft:
| 1958
/ Round: 4 / Pick: 42
|
---|
|
|
|
---|
|
|
|
---|
|
Interceptions:
| 45
|
---|
Interception yards:
| 853
|
---|
Touchdowns:
| 7
|
---|
|
|
Player stats at
PFR
|
|
Erich Theodore Barnes
(
E
-rich
;
[1]
July 4, 1935 ? April 29, 2022) was an American professional
football
player who was a
defensive back
in the
National Football League
(NFL). He played
college football
for the
Purdue Boilermakers
(1956?1958), where he was a
two-way player
. In the NFL, he was a six-time
Pro Bowler
and a four-time
All-Pro
selection, including first-team honors in 1961.
Early life
[
edit
]
Barnes was born in
Elkhart, Indiana
, on July 4, 1935.
[1]
[2]
His father, Sylvester, worked as a real estate investor; his mother, Lura, was a housewife.
[1]
He attended
Elkhart Central High School
in his hometown.
[2]
He then studied at
Purdue University
, where he played offensive and defensive
halfback
,
[1]
left end, and
cornerback
for the
Purdue Boilermakers
.
[3]
He registered 257 rushing yards on 62
carries
, 319 yards on 20
receptions
, 136 yards on seven
kickoff returns
, and 86 return yards off of his five
interceptions
during his time with the Boilermakers.
[3]
He was one of the favorite receiving targets of
Len Dawson
, a future
Pro Football Hall of Famer
, but cornerback was his best position.
[4]
He was drafted by the
Chicago Bears
in the fourth round (42nd overall selection) of the
1958 NFL Draft
.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
Barnes made his NFL debut with the Bears on October 12, 1958, at the age of 23, in a 28?6 win over the
San Francisco 49ers
.
[5]
He was later traded to the
New York Giants
in 1961.
[6]
In his first season with New York, he intercepted a pass against the
Dallas Cowboys
and returned it 102 yards for a
touchdown
, setting a Giants' record and tying the then-NFL record for the longest interception return.
[6]
[7]
He also earned NFL first-team honors that year.
[8]
The Giants went on to face the
Green Bay Packers
in the
1962 NFL Championship Game
, having lost 37?0 to the same team in the
previous year's title game
. They lost again to Lombardi's Packers on a fiercely windy and cold day in Yankee Stadium. Barnes set up the only scoring for the Giants when he blocked a punt recovered by teammate
Jim Collier
in the end zone in a 16?7 loss.
[6]
[9]
After the 1964 season, the Giants traded him to the
Cleveland Browns
? his favorite team as a child
[10]
? for linebacker
Mike Lucci
and a 1966 third round draft pick which the Giants then traded to Detroit for quarterback
Earl Morrall
.
[11]
This trade further aggravated the demise of a once stellar Giants defense that had already lost standouts
Sam Huff
and
Dick Modzelewski
, who was also traded to the Browns and an integral component of their 1964 NFL championship team after the 1963 season.
[1]
During his time with the Browns, Barnes was known for standing at the goalpost (then stationed at the goal line) and blocking field goal attempts. This practice was later outlawed in the NFL.
[3]
He ended his career with 45 interceptions, returning seven for touchdowns.
[1]
During his NFL career, he was selected to the
Pro Bowl
six times and was an
All-Pro
selection four times.
[2]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Barnes was known as an aggressive, physical player.
[10]
In 2012, the Cleveland
Plain Dealer
'
s Mike Pettica ranked him as the No. 63 player in Browns' history (counting only what players did playing for Cleveland).
[11]
The
Professional Football Researchers Association
named Barnes to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2013.
[12]
Barnes was elected to the
Indiana Football Hall of Fame
in 1986,
[13]
and the
Purdue University
Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
[14]
Later years
[
edit
]
After retiring from professional football in 1971, Barnes went on to work in the New York City area as a corporate special events planner.
[1]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
Barnes married Violet Ward; the couple remained together until his death. Erich had three daughters ;Charissa, Djuna, and Tessa. In 1963, he appeared as one of the impostors on the panel game show
To Tell the Truth
, claiming to be a sentinel at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
.
[4]
[15]
Barnes died on April 29, 2022, at a hospital near
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
, aged 86, following an unspecified lengthy illness.
[1]
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Goldstein, Richard (May 4, 2022).
"Erich Barnes, Star Defensive Back for the 1960s Giants, Dies at 86"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 4,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Erich Barnes Stats"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Sports Reference LLC
. Retrieved
May 4,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
Douglas, Brett (April 19, 2020).
"Draft Pick Countdown, No. 6: Erich Barnes, the Versatile Ballhawk"
.
SI.com
. Sports Illustrated
. Retrieved
May 4,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Thompson, Ken (August 20, 2018).
"Thompson: Purdue football Who Wore It Best No. 41-50"
.
Journal & Courier
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"Erich Barnes 1958 Game Log"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Sports Reference LLC
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Eisen, Michael (May 3, 2022).
"Giants mourn passing of former DB Erich Barnes"
. New York Giants
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"Reed rumbles 108 yards for NFL record | Longest interception returns by team"
.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
. November 24, 2008. Archived from
the original
on June 5, 2014
. Retrieved
June 2,
2014
.
- ^
"1961 NFL All-Pros"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"December 30th, 1962 Championship ? Green Bay Packers at New York Giants"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Sports Reference LLC. December 30, 1962
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Passan, Rich (May 19, 2008).
"Browns Rewind: Erich Barnes"
.
Orange and Brown Report
. Archived from
the original
on August 29, 2008
. Retrieved
February 24,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Pettica, Mike (October 26, 2012).
"Cleveland Browns' 100 best all-time players: No. 63, Erich Barnes"
.
The Plain Dealer
. Retrieved
January 15,
2013
.
- ^
"Professional Researchers Association Hall of Very Good Class of 2013"
. Archived from
the original
on January 4, 2017
. Retrieved
November 10,
2016
.
- ^
"Erich Barnes"
. Indiana Football Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
January 15,
2013
.
- ^
"2009 Hall of Fame"
. Purdue Athletics. February 9, 2009. Archived from
the original
on November 11, 2016
. Retrieved
January 15,
2013
.
- ^
To Tell the Truth
, Monday, November 11, 1963 – YouTube (via Buzzr).
; retrieved January 4, 2019.