- Marion Barber III
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Marion Barber 
Marion Barber during a 2007 regular season gameNo. 24 Chicago Bears Running back Personal information Date of birth: June 10, 1983 Place of birth: Plymouth, Minnesota Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Weight: 220 lb (100 kg) Career information College: Minnesota NFL Draft: 2005 / Round: 4 / Pick: 109 Debuted in 2005 for the Dallas Cowboys Career history - Dallas Cowboys (2005-2010)
- Chicago Bears (2011–present)
Roster status: Active Career highlights and awards - Music City Bowl MVP (2004)
- Pro Bowl selection (2007)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2011 Rushing yards 4,449 Rushing average 4.2 Rushing TDs 50 Stats at NFL.com Marion Sylvester Barber III (born June 10, 1983) is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Minnesota.
Barber was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2007. He is the older brother of Houston Texans safety Dominique Barber and the son of former New York Jets running back Marion Barber, Jr..
Contents
Early years
Barber attended Wayzata High School located in Plymouth, Minnesota and was a standout in football, baseball and track. In football, he was a SuperPrep and PrepStar All-Midwest and consensus All-State honoree as a senior running back and as a defensive back. During his last season with the Trojans, he amassed 1,778 rushing yards with 18 touchdowns and led his team with 10 interceptions (3 of which came against Gatorade National Player of the Year and future Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer).[1] In baseball, he was an Honorable Mention All-Conference center fielder. In his first and only track season, Barber qualified for the 2001 Minnesota State Class AA Championships in the 100 meters. He finished the season with a 100m time of 10.9 seconds.[2]
College career
Like his father, he played college football at the University of Minnesota, finishing second on the school's all-time list for rushing touchdowns with 35, one better than his father, Marion Barber Jr.. He also teamed up with other star Minnesota running back Lawrence Maroney in his final year at college to form one of the best duo backs in the nation.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
2005
After forgoing his senior season, he was selected in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. A toe infection that required surgery and some preseason fumbles left him at the bottom of the depth chart. An injury to Julius Jones and the ineffectiveness of Anthony Thomas allowed Barber to emerge, and he responded with 95 yards rushing against Seattle and 127 yards against Arizona. Along with his pass-blocking and special teams abilities, this solidified his position as the backup running back for the Cowboys.
2006
Barber found a niche as a third-down rusher and emerged as an excellent red-zone rusher. He led the NFC with 14 rushing touchdowns in 2006. Barber finally established his role and ability as a power back.
2007
Entering the 2007 NFL regular season, many Dallas fans called for Cowboys coach Wade Phillips to name Barber the starting tailback. However, Phillips continued to utilize the "running back by committee," sharing the load with Cowboys starting running back Julius Jones. This approach was instituted by former coach Bill Parcells.
Jim Johnson, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator, called Barber the hardest running back in the NFL to bring down.
During the 2007 season, Barber's power running back style earned him the nickname Marion the Barbarian and he was the league leader in breaking tackles, reflecting his personal mantra of "hit or get hit." Barber rushed for 975 yards on 204 carries and 10 rushing touchdowns with a 4.8 yards-per-carry rushing average. He caught 44 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns.
On December 18, 2007, he was named to his first Pro Bowl despite officially being a backup.[3] Barber received the start in the divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants.[4]
2008
Barber at the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl
Dallas offered Barber, now as an unquestionable starter to the team, the highest tender as a restricted free agent. On May 20, 2008, he signed a seven-year deal, $45 million with the Cowboys with $16 million guaranteed.
2009
The emergence of Tashard Choice and Felix Jones, and injury problems limited his success during the 2009 season. However, he played in 15 games despite a torn quadriceps muscle.[5]
2010
Barber had a disappointing 2010 season as the entire Cowboys team struggled from game one. In 13 games Barber rushed for 480 yards on 113 carries for a 3.3 yard per carry average, the lowest of his career. His 4 rushing touchdowns were also the lowest of his career.
Chicago Bears
2011
Barber was released by Dallas on July 28, 2011.[6] On July 30, 2011, the Bears signed Barber to a two-year, $5 million contract.[7] Barber beat out Chester Taylor (as Chester Taylor got cut) for the Chicago Bears' 2nd string Running Back position after Matt Forte.
On August 27 in the third pre-season game, Barber hurt his calf muscle while performing celebratory back-flips and missed the first three games of the regular season due to the injury.
Career statistics
Season Team GP–GS Rushing Receiving Fumbles Att Yards Avg. Long TD Rec Yards Avg Long TD FUM Lost 2005 Dallas Cowboys 13–2 138 538 3.9 28 5 18 115 6.4 21 0 3 0 2006 16–1 135 654 4.8 25 14 23 196 8.5 26 2 0 0 2007 16–0 204 975 4.8 54 10 44 282 6.4 29 2 3 0 2008 15–13 238 885 3.7 35 7 52 417 8.0 70 2 7 3 2009 15-15 214 932 4.4 35 7 26 221 8.5 42 0 2 2 2010 13-10 113 374 3.3 25 4 11 49 4.5 15 0 0 0 Total 929 3,984 4.3 54 43 163 1,231 7.6 70 6 15 5 References
- ^ USATODAY.com
- ^ Mshsl Boys' Class Aa Championships
- ^ 2008 Pro Bowl rosters
- ^ ESPN - Dallas' Barber to start at running back against Giants - NFL
- ^ Barber Suffered Torn Quad in Week 2
- ^ Rosenthal, Gregg. "Release Tracker". Pro Football Talk. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/28/release-tracker/. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ McClure, Vaughn. "Bears add former Cowboys RB Barber". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-110731-chicago-bears-marion-barber,0,6401012.story. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
External links
Chicago Bears current roster Active roster 6 Jay Cutler | 8 Adam Podlesh | 9 Robbie Gould | 10 Nathan Enderle | 11 Roy Williams | 12 Caleb Hanie | 13 Johnny Knox | 18 Dane Sanzenbacher | 20 Craig Steltz | 21 Corey Graham | 22 Matt Forté | 23 Devin Hester | 24 Marion Barber | 26 Tim Jennings | 27 Major Wright | 30 D. J. Moore | 31 Brandon Meriweather | 32 Kahlil Bell | 33 Charles Tillman | 35 Zackary Bowman | 36 Winston Venable | 44 Tyler Clutts | 47 Chris Conte | 52 Brian Iwuh | 53 Nick Roach | 54 Brian Urlacher | 55 Lance Briggs | 58 Dom DeCicco | 60 Lance Louis | 63 Roberto Garza | 64 Ricky Henry | 65 Patrick Mannelly | 67 Chris Spencer | 68 Frank Omiyale | 69 Henry Melton | 70 Edwin Williams | 71 Israel Idonije | 73 J'Marcus Webb | 75 Matt Toeaina | 79 Levi Horn | 80 Earl Bennett | 81 Sam Hurd | 85 Andre Smith | 87 Kellen Davis | 89 Matt Spaeth | 90 Julius Peppers | 91 Amobi Okoye | 92 Stephen Paea | 93 Jabara Williams | 94 Chauncey Davis | 95 Anthony Adams | 96 Mario Addison | 98 Corey Wootton
Reserve lists 37 Anthony Walters (IR) | 48 Harvey Unga (Left Squad) | 72 Gabe Carimi (IR) | 74 Chris Williams (IR) | 86 Kyle Adams (IR) | 97 J.T. Thomas (IR)
Practice Squad 25 Armando Allen | 49 Draylen Ross | 59 Patrick Trahan | 62 Reggie Stephens | 76 Jordan Miller | 83 Max Komar
AFC East: BUF · MIA · NE · NYJ • North: BAL · CIN · CLE · DeMarcus Ware · Marcus Spears · Kevin Burnett · Marion Barber · Chris Canty · Justin Beriault · Rob Petitti · Jay RatliffCategories:- 1983 births
- Living people
- People from Plymouth, Minnesota
- American football running backs
- Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
- Players of American football from Minnesota
- Dallas Cowboys players
- Chicago Bears players
- National Conference Pro Bowl players
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