Лемуэль Барни: Американ футбол тарихындағы жарық жұлдыз

American football player (born 1945)

Lemuel Jackson Barney (born September 8, 1945) is an American former football cornerback and return specialist who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1967 to 1977, playing occasionally as a punter as well. He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers from 1964 to 1966. He was selected by the Lions in the 1967 NFL/AFL draft and played. He was selected as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1967, played in seven Pro Bowls, and was selected as a first team All NFL player in 1968 and 1969. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He has also been inducted into the Detroit Lions Hall of Fame, the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

Barney was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1945. He attended the 33rd Avenue High School in Gulfport.

Barney attended Jackson State University, a historically black university in Jackson, Mississippi. His son Lem Barney the 3rd and Grandson Lem Barney the 4th also followed in his footsteps and graduated from Jackson State. He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers football team from 1964 to 1966 under head coach Rod Paige. He had 26 career interceptions at Jackson State, including nine in 1965 and 11 in 1966. He also had punt averages of 41.7 and 42.5 in those two seasons. Barney was an All Southwestern Athletic Conference selection three straight years. He was also selected as an All American by Ebony magazine and the Pittsburgh Courier.

Barney was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round, 34th overall pick, of the 1967 NFL draft. As a rookie in 1967, Barney appeared in all 14 games as a starting cornerback and led the NFL with 10 interceptions, 232 interception return yards and three interceptions returned for touchdowns. At the end of the 1967 season, he was selected by the Associated Press as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. After the 1967 season, Barney played in the 1968 Pro Bowl, and in the off season, he was married and also served six months of active duty in the Navy. Although investigators stated that Barney was not the focus of the investigation, the controversy received extensive press attention through the spring of 1978, as Barney was called to testify before a New York grand jury. In August 1978, the Lions placed Barney on the injured waiver list. Barney's efforts to sign with another team were unsuccessful, and he did not play during the 1978 season. He was officially released by the Lions in February 1979.

Year Team Games Interceptions Fumbles Returning GP (Games played) GS (Games started) Int (Interceptions on defense) Yds (Interception return yardage) Avg (Yards per interception return) Lng (Longest interception return) TD (Interceptions returned for touchdowns) Fum (Fumbles) FR (Fumbles recovered) Yds (Fumble recovery returns yardage) Avg (Yards per fumble recovery return) TD (Fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns) Ret (Punts and kickoffs returned) Yds (Punts and kickoffs return yardage) Avg (Yards per punt and kickoff return) Lng (Longest punt or kickoff return) TD (Punts and kickoffs returned for touchdowns) 1967 DET 14 14 10 232 23.2 71 3 2 0 5 5.0 0 9 101 11.2 25 0 1968 DET 14 14 7 82 11.7 62 0 5 5 0 0.0 0 38 749 19.7 98 1 1969 DET 13 13 8 126 15.8 32 0 3 2 25 12.5 0 16 345 21.6 74 1 1970 DET 13 13 7 168 24.0 49 2 2 0 0 — 0 27 355 13.1 74 1 1971 DET 9 7 3 78 26.0 28 1 5 2 0 0.0 0 23 344 15.0 48 0 1972 DET 14 14 3 88 29.3 64 0 1 1 20 20.0 0 16 125 7.8 26 0 1973 DET 14 14 4 130 32.5 38 0 3 3 0 0.0 0 28 259 9.3 42 0 1974 DET 13 12 4 61 15.3 39 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 37 7.4 11 0 1975 DET 10 10 5 23 4.6 13 0 0 1 74 74.0 0 8 80 10.0 30 0 1976 DET 14 14 2 62 31.0 26 1 4 1 0 0.0 0 23 191 8.3 30 0 1977 DET 12 11 3 27 9.0 22 0 0 2 49 24.5 0 0 0 — 0 0 Career 140 136 56 1,077 19.2 71 7 25 17 163 9.6 0 193 2,586 13.4 98 3

Year Team Games Punt returns GP (Games played) GS (Games started) Ret (Punts returned) Yds (Punts return yardage) Avg (Yards per punt return) Lng (Longest punt return) TD (Punts returned for touchdowns) 1970 DET 1 1 5 20 4.0 8 0 Career 1 1 5 20 4.0 8 0

Barney is an accomplished singer who began singing with choirs in his youth and college. He befriended Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye, when Gaye unsuccessfully tried out for the Lions in 1970. Barney and teammate Mel Farr sang background vocals on Gaye's classic 1971 song "What's Going On". In 2015, Barney was invited to sing the national anthem at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Barney and his wife, Martha, had a daughter, LaTrece, and a son, Lem III. He also worked in the 1980s as a football broadcaster on BET and on pre season games for the Detroit Lions. In March 1993, after his car crashed into a guardrail on a Detroit freeway, Barney was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and possession of cocaine and marijuana. He was found not guilty of the drug charges following a jury trial in 1994. In 2006, Barney published an autobiography titled, "The Supernatural: Lem Barney". He held a public relations post at the Detroit Medical Center starting in 2006. After being fired from that position, he filed an age discrimination lawsuit in 2013. Also in 2013, Barney publicly declared that, in light of revelations about brain injuries resulting from football, he would not play football if he had the chance to live his life over again and predicted that the game of football would be gone in another 20 years.