Leonardo Barker (born November 7, 1959 in Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone) 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 wi ...

player who was the first person born in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

to play in the NFL. He played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984 until 1991. He played varsity football at Rainbow City/Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone, then an

unincorporated territory of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...

. From 2008 to 2010, he was the head coach of the Hornets of Roswell High School. He lives in Roswell, Georgia, with his family, teaches Spanish and linebacker coach for Blessed Trinity Catholic High School.

College career

Barker was a member of the

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

Aggies football team from 1979 to 1983. He was a starting (linebacker) every year he played and was second on the team in tackles his junior and senior seasons. At New Mexico State, Barker racked up 378 career tackles; enough to place him number four on the all-time Aggie list. In 2003, Leo Barker was inducted into the

Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame.

NFL career

He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the NFL draft in 1983. He played for the Bengals until 1992, when he retired. Barker was an integral part of the Bengals’ nickel-package defense. In 1989, Barker helped lead them to a league best 12-4 record and an appearance in

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

References

1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Colón, Panama Zonians American football linebackers New Mexico State Aggies football players Cincinnati Bengals players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Roswell, Georgia Sportspeople from Fulton County, Georgia {{linebacker-1950s-stub