Miller's Barnett: Attention for Being Tackled by Ref
This isn't how it's supposed to work, for Nick Barnett. The Green Bay Packers middle linebacker generally gets attention for tackling other people ... not being thrown by, of all people, an NFL referee.
But that is how it's turned out.
If you were watching highlights last weekend, you saw Barnett grabbed from behind and almost slung to the ground by official Jim Quirk. The word "takedown" came up a lot.
Quirk was trying to break up a scuffle, but he was a bit more interventionist than your normal peacekeeper.
Odd thing is, Barnett has been a mainstay of the Green Bay defense for years now, but the A.B. Miller alumnus may have gotten more attention for this than anything he did while playing defense.
Find a link to the news story here.
Barnett played on what certainly was the most talented A.B. Miller football team, the 1998 squad that went 9-1 in the regular season, losing only to Fontana. If Eisenhower hadn't been forced to forfeit eight games (which included a victory over Fontana), Miller would won a share of its first Citrus Belt League title. Instead, Fontana won it outright by virtue of its victory over Miller -- and a forfeit win over Ike.
That Miller team had skill all over the field, to the point that Barnett was perhaps the sixth or seventh most-recognized player for the Rebels that year. He played tight end and safety, and was hurt for part of the season, too.
Anyway, I can remember Miller coach John Tyree telling me, a decade ago, that Barnett was the best player on the team, which was hard to grasp, considering how high-profile so many other guys were. But Tyree was correct, of course. Several of those Miller guys had decent college careers, but Barnett was the only one to get to the NFL.
Maybe the Packers can do something in the postseason that will help us forget Barnett being flung to the ground by a guy in a striped shirt.