.png) Barnes from 1967 "Razorback" | |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s) | OG |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| College | University of Arkansas |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1966–1968 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Jim Donald Barnes is a former American football offensive guard. He played for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1968.
Barnes attended the University of Arkansas where he initially hoped to play at the end or linebacker position for the Razorbacks. He ended up as a starter on the offensive line under head coach Frank Broyles. He helped lead the 1968 Arkansas Razorbacks football team to a 10–1, a #6 rating in the AP Poll, and a victory over Georgia in the 1969 Sugar Bowl. Following the victory over favored Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Barnes said: "I have never been associated with a bunch of boys like this. They've given up more and sacrificed more than any group I've ever seen."[1]
Barnes was a consensus selection at the guard position on the 1968 College Football All-America Team, receiving first-team honors from the Associated Press and Central Press.[2] He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round (106th overall pick) of the 1969 NFL Draft,[3] but he did not play in the National Football League.
Barnes had polio in the third grade and was in bed for six-and-a-half months. Barnes later recalled that his childhood struggle with polio gave him "an incentive to work a little harder."[4] When he was named to the All-American team in December 1968, the Associated Press story noted: "Jim Barnes looks more like an All-American than a polio victim."[4]