Krystopher Nathaniel Barnes (born April 2, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and originally signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2020.

Early life

Barnes was born and grew up in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. He attended and played football at Liberty High School, along with childhood friend and future

teammate

Jordan Love Jordan Alexander Love (born November 2, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah State and was drafted by the Packers in the first round of th ...

. Together, Barnes and Love helped lead Liberty to the first Division I Central Section championship in school history.

College career

In four seasons at

, Barnes played in 43 games with 31 starts, recording 212 tackles (139 solo, 21 for loss), five sacks, and two interceptions. Barnes was All-Pac 12 honorable mention his senior season.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

On April 29, 2020, the

signed Barnes to a three-year, $2.29 million contract as an

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $7,000. Throughout training camp, Barnes competed to be a starting

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

against

Oren Burks Oren Spencer Burks (born March 21, 1995) is an American football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Vanderbilt and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round o ...

Ty Summers Tyler Christian Summers (born December 31, 1995) is an American football linebacker for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh rou ...

, and fellow rookie

Kamal Martin Kamal Adrian Martin (born June 17, 1998) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Minnesota, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has also play ...

. On September 5, 2020, the Packers waived Barnes as part of their final roster cuts, but signed him to the practice squad the next day after clearing waivers. On September 12, 2020, the Green Bay Packers promoted Barnes to their active roster. Head coach Matt LaFleur elected to start Barnes at inside linebacker, alongside

Christian Kirksey Christian Paul Kirksey (born August 31, 1992) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Iowa and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He also played for the Green Bay Pack ...

, to start the regular season. He made his first career start and his professional debut in the Green Bay Packers’ season-opener at the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and recorded seven combined tackles (five solo) during their 43–34 victory. On October 18, 2020, Barnes recorded ten combined tackles (seven solo) during a 38–10 loss at the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in Week 6. In Week 7 against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, Barnes recorded his first career sack on Deshaun Watson during the 35–20 win. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 6, 2020, and activated on December 2. In Week 15 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, Barnes forced a fumble on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater at the one yard line that was recovered by the Packers during the 24–16 win. During the team's matchup against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in Week 9, Barnes made a season-high 9 tackles, including one that prevented a touchdown by running back

Darrel Williams Darrel Williams (born April 15, 1995) is an American football running back for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in ...

. He signed his tender offer from the Packers on April 18, 2022, to keep him with the team. In the 2022 season-opener at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, he sustained ankle injury, which put him on injured reserve. On November 5, 2022, he was activated off of injured reserve.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 25, 2023, Barnes signed with the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Krys 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Bakersfield, California American football linebackers University of California, Los Angeles alumni UCLA Bruins football players Green Bay Packers players Arizona Cardinals players Liberty High School (Bakersfield, California) alumni