Nicholas Alexander Barnett (born May 27, 1981) is a former

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 ...

. 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 ...

for

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

, and was drafted by 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 ...

in the first round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. He has played professionally for the NFL's

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. With the Packers, he won

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Early years

Barnett was born in

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the I ...

and attended Fontana A.B. Miller High School in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

College career

Barnett attended

, where he was a four-year letter winner for the

Oregon State Beavers football The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Jonathan Smith has been the he ...

team (1999–2002), starting the last three seasons at strong side linebacker. As a senior, Barnett was a first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference selection. He led the conference in tackles with 121 (62 solo). Barnett registered his single game best against the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

in 2001 with 18 tackles (11 solo). He majored in Business Administration and Communications.

College statistics

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

The

selected Barnett in the first round (29th overall) of the

. Barnett was the third linebacker drafted in 2003, behind

Terrell Suggs Terrell Raymonn Suggs (born October 11, 1982), nicknamed "T-Sizzle", is an American former professional outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous Al ...

(10th overall) and

Calvin Pace Calvin Lamar Pace (born October 28, 1980) is a former American football outside linebacker of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round (18th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college footb ...

(18th overall). Nick Barnett (56) and Charles Woodson (21)

On July 19, 2003, the Green Bay Packers signed Barnett to five-year, $6 million contract 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 $3.21 million. Barnett entered training camp as the 'de facto' starting middle linebacker, replacing

Hardy Nickerson Hardy Otto Nickerson Sr. (born September 1, 1965) is an American former football coach and professional player. He played as linebacker for four teams over 16 seasons, from 1987 to 2002, in the National Football League (NFL). Nickerson spent ...

. Head coach

Mike Sherman Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green B ...

named Barnett the starting middle linebacker to begin his rookie season. He started alongside outside linebackers Hannibal Navies and

Na'il Diggs Na'il Diggs (born July 8, 1978) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State. Diggs has also played for the Carolina Panther ...

. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start during the Green Bay Packers' season-opener against 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 made five combined tackles (one solo) during their 30–25 loss. On September 14, 2003, Barnett collected a season-high 14 combined tackles (12 solo), deflected one pass, and made his first career interception during a 31–6 victory against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in Week 2. Barnett intercepted a pass by Lions' quarterback

Joey Harrington John Joseph Harrington Jr. (born October 21, 1978) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Oregon, where he w ...

, that was originally intended for tight end

Mikhael Ricks Mikhael Roy Ricks (born November 14, 1974) is a former National Football League tight end. Ricks attended Anahuac High School in Anahuac, Texas. He went to college at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he played football and basketball. ...

, and returned it for a 13-yard gain during the fourth quarter. In Week 4, he made four combined tackles (three solo) and made his first career sack on Bears' quarterback

Kordell Stewart Kordell Stewart (born October 16, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "Slash", he played college football at Colorado ...

for a five-yard loss during the first quarter of a 38–23 victory at the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Barnett was inactive for the Packers' Week 13 loss at the

after sustaining an ankle injury during a 20–10 win against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

the previous week. He finished his rookie season in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

with 112 combined tackle (86 solo), three pass deflections, three interceptions, and two sacks in 15 games and 15 starts. The Green Bay Packers finished first in the NFC North with a 10-6 record in 2003. On January 4, 2004, Barnett started in his first career playoff game and made six combined tackles (three solo) during a 33-27 overtime victory against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

during the NFC Wildcard Game. The following week, he made five solo tackles and defended two passes as the Packers lost 20-17 at the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

during the NFC Divisional Round and were eliminated from the playoffs. On April 10, 2007, Barnett signed a six-year contract extension worth $34.85 million. Barnett missed the second half of the 2008 season after suffering a torn knee ligament during November 9's game against the

. Barnett suffered a season-ending wrist injury in a Week 4 matchup vs. the

. He was put on injured reserve on October 7, 2010. It was the second time in three seasons that Barnett ended his season on injured reserve. As of 2018 Barnett is third in all-time tackles for the Green Bay Packers. On July 26, 2011, Barnett was informed by Packers General Manager,

Ted Thompson Ted Thompson (January 17, 1953 – January 20, 2021) was an American professional football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He was the general manager of the Green Bay Packers from 2005 to 2017. Thompson had a 10-y ...

, that the Packers will try to trade him, but if not, they will release him. He was released on July 28, after Green Bay was unable to find a trade.

Buffalo Bills

Barnett signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the

on July 31, 2011. On February 11, 2013 the Bills announced that Barnett would be released from his contract along with

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

George Wilson.

Washington Redskins

On July 31, 2013, Barnett agreed to a one-year deal with the

. He switched from the outside to

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 ...

position for the Redskins' defensive scheme. On December 24, he was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after suffering a

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

sprain in the Week 16 game against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Professional statistics

References

External links

Washington Redskins bioBuffalo Bills bioOregon State Beavers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Nick 1981 births Living people People from Fontana, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from San Bernardino County, California American football linebackers Oregon State Beavers football players Green Bay Packers players Buffalo Bills players Washington Redskins players