Shawn Barber
Encyclopedia
Steven William "Shawn" Barber (born January 14, 1975 in Richmond
, Virginia
) is a former American football
linebacker
in the National Football League
. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins
in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL Draft
. He played college football
at Richmond
. He also played for the Philadelphia Eagles
, Kansas City Chiefs
and Houston Texans
. He is currently a coaching intern for the Eagles.
in Richmond. Despite not playing football until he was a junior, he returned three interceptions
for touchdown
s and averaged over 20.0 yards per catch as a senior. He also earned all-district honors in basketball
and lettered once in track
.
as a safety but was moved to linebacker in his sophomore year. As a junior, Barber was an All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press
and an all-Yankee Conference
first-team selection. He recorded 94 total tackles
(56 solo), six sacks
, 13 tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble
en route to becoming the Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 as a senior. He also added three interceptions and on special teams he blocked two kicks. In his four seasons at Richmond, Barber played in a total of 44 games with 33 starts and totaled 305 tackles, 20 sacks, 30 tackles for a loss, and five interceptions.
by the Washington Redskins
. In 1998, Barber saw duty in 16 games (one start
) for the Redskins, amassing 34 tackles (28 solo), one interception, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. Also added a team-high 15 special teams tackles. During the 1999 season
, he opened all 16 Redskins games for the first time in his career and totaled a career-high 148 tackles, 1 sack, five passes defensed, three forced fumbles and eight special teams tackles. He also added two INTs for 70 yards with a touchdown. In 2000, Barber started 14 games for Redskins and was inactive for two games. That season he registered 82 tackles, 2.0 sacks, two fumble recoveries and two special teams tackles. His last year as a Redskin was 2001. While he was a Redskin he appeared in 49 games (34 starts), amassing 281 tackles, 3 sacks, three interceptions with one touchdown, two fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and added 25 special teams tackles. While he was there, he started two playoff games in 1999, amassing 16 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
was in 2002. He started all 16 games as a linebacker and produced 119 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, including a career-long 80-yard touchdown, a career-high three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and seven passes defensed.
, as an unrestricted free agent where he started 16 games. He ranked second on the team with 141 tackles, was tied for second on the team with a career-high five sacks and had two forced fumbles, one interception, and five passes defensed. He started his first game in a Chiefs uniform against the San Diego Chargers
on September 7, recording seven tackles and a team-high two passes defensed. During the 2004 season
, he started the season's first eight games at linebacker and finished with 42 tackles and a sack, as well as five passes defensed, a forced fumble, two quarterback pressures and an interception. In 2005, he only played three games for the Chiefs. Due to salary cap
issues, the Chiefs released him on March 2, 2006.
. He was released on February 20, 2008.
during the 2010 offseason.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
) is a former American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL Draft
1998 NFL Draft
The 1998 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18-19, 1998...
. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Richmond
Richmond Spiders football
The Richmond Spiders are a college football team representing the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the Division I Football Championship Subdivision champion for the 2008 season. Richmond currently competes in the Colonial Athletic Association of the NCAA's Division I...
. He also played for the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He is currently a coaching intern for the Eagles.
Early years
Barber was an all-district and all-region player as a safety at Hermitage High SchoolHermitage High School (Virginia)
Hermitage High is a public high school located in Henrico County, Virginia/Richmond, Virginia. Hermitage offers a great Social Studies, Languages, and Humanities program and a top tier Psychology program regarded as one of the best in the entire state of Virginia...
in Richmond. Despite not playing football until he was a junior, he returned three interceptions
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
for touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s and averaged over 20.0 yards per catch as a senior. He also earned all-district honors in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and lettered once in track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
.
College career
Barber began his collegiate career at the University of RichmondUniversity of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
as a safety but was moved to linebacker in his sophomore year. As a junior, Barber was an All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and an all-Yankee Conference
Yankee Conference
The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. It once sponsored competition in many sports, but eventually became a football-only league...
first-team selection. He recorded 94 total tackles
Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
(56 solo), six sacks
Quarterback sack
In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...
, 13 tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
en route to becoming the Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 as a senior. He also added three interceptions and on special teams he blocked two kicks. In his four seasons at Richmond, Barber played in a total of 44 games with 33 starts and totaled 305 tackles, 20 sacks, 30 tackles for a loss, and five interceptions.
Washington Redskins
Barber was drafted in the 1998 NFL Draft1998 NFL Draft
The 1998 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18-19, 1998...
by the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. In 1998, Barber saw duty in 16 games (one start
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
) for the Redskins, amassing 34 tackles (28 solo), one interception, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. Also added a team-high 15 special teams tackles. During the 1999 season
1999 Washington Redskins season
The 1999 Washington Redskins began with the team trying to improve on their 6–10 record from 1998.-NFL Draft:The New Orleans Saints traded all of their draft picks to the Washington Redskins for running back Ricky Williams, the first time ever that an NFL team has had only one pick in a...
, he opened all 16 Redskins games for the first time in his career and totaled a career-high 148 tackles, 1 sack, five passes defensed, three forced fumbles and eight special teams tackles. He also added two INTs for 70 yards with a touchdown. In 2000, Barber started 14 games for Redskins and was inactive for two games. That season he registered 82 tackles, 2.0 sacks, two fumble recoveries and two special teams tackles. His last year as a Redskin was 2001. While he was a Redskin he appeared in 49 games (34 starts), amassing 281 tackles, 3 sacks, three interceptions with one touchdown, two fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and added 25 special teams tackles. While he was there, he started two playoff games in 1999, amassing 16 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
First stint with Eagles
Barber's first season with the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
was in 2002. He started all 16 games as a linebacker and produced 119 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, including a career-long 80-yard touchdown, a career-high three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and seven passes defensed.
Kansas City Chiefs
In 2003, Barber was then signed by the Kansas City ChiefsKansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, as an unrestricted free agent where he started 16 games. He ranked second on the team with 141 tackles, was tied for second on the team with a career-high five sacks and had two forced fumbles, one interception, and five passes defensed. He started his first game in a Chiefs uniform against the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on September 7, recording seven tackles and a team-high two passes defensed. During the 2004 season
2004 Kansas City Chiefs season
The 2004 Kansas City Chiefs season proved not to be as successful as the team's previous season. Though the Chiefs finished the regular season with the most yards and the second highest amount of points, they also had a losing record of 7–9 and no playoff appearance.-Schedule:-Standings:...
, he started the season's first eight games at linebacker and finished with 42 tackles and a sack, as well as five passes defensed, a forced fumble, two quarterback pressures and an interception. In 2005, he only played three games for the Chiefs. Due to salary cap
Salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
issues, the Chiefs released him on March 2, 2006.
Houston Texans
On March 19, 2007 Barber signed a three-year contract with the Houston TexansHouston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He was released on February 20, 2008.
Philadelphia Eagles
Barber became a coaching intern for the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
during the 2010 offseason.