U
ucrenegade
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cool story hope he gets more PT soon
http://douglascourier.com/2014/12/determination-leads-success-new-york-jets-t-j-barnes/
For New York Jets defensive tackle T.J. Barnes, football hasn’t always been his dream. The fourth-generation athlete and Georgia Institute of Technology graduate envisioned himself as a golfer in high school, but his 6-foot-7 stature seemed better fit for the football field.
Barnes found himself lying to his father, Terry Jones, a big football star in his hometown who went on to play at Auburn, about trying out for the football team in his freshman year of high school, when in reality he was trying out for the golf team.
“Football tryouts were over and being the type of guy he was, my father wanted to go out to see if his son was trying to live up his legacy, which I wasn’t,” Barnes said. “The whole reason I started playing football is because my father asked to go meet my coaches.”
Barnes first realized that he had a potential future in football during a 2010 game against Clemson University in which he had his first collegiate sack against future Jets teammate quarterback Tajh Boyd.
“[Boyd] and I went back and forth about it [in the offseason],” Barnes said with a laugh. “I was just putting numbers up the whole game and it felt like it was effortless. I felt like I could have an even better game and that’s when I realized that I could probably make a living [by] playing ball. Things became so simple after that.”
Barnes derives his motivation for improvement by recalling when his football aspirations almost disappeared.
“I know what it’s like to not have football because it was so easily taken from me,” Barnes said, referring to when the Jacksonville Jaguars waived him on August 31, 2013. “I felt like I was done after that. No team was calling or showing any interest for a while. I was out of football for at least two months and I was staying on my best friend’s couch. Just remembering everyday those times that I had gone through to get into the position that I’m in now keeps me motivated.”
Barnes would face months of uncertainty, as nobody, not even his agent, knew what to tell him regarding his future.
“As the weeks progressed, it was getting tougher and tougher,” Barnes said. “My girlfriend was my backbone throughout my offseason training and camp.”
Upon signing with the Jets, Barnes would constantly be reminded by members of the organization to remember the times of struggle.
“[Receiving the call from the Jets] was like a big sigh of relief,” Barnes said. “It was like ‘cool, at least somebody out there really believes in me.’ Words can’t even explain how I was feeling.”
Since joining New York, Barnes began working out individually and dropped almost 30 pounds in the offseason, a testament to his determination to be successful.
“It was always me versus myself in the workouts,” Barnes said. “My brother helped me out a little bit and challenged me to realize that it is a mental game more than it is [a physical one] to see if I could beat out my mind, which was saying ‘you don’t have anything and you can’t go anymore,’ when in actuality I do have a little bit more and can keep pushing. That’s how I was able to overcome all of the mental aspects of being in the NFL.”
According to Barnes, he has always had a chip on his shoulder.
“From high school and schools not believing that I can play defense, to getting into college, to always having to prove that I can be a starter and not starting until my senior year, to seeing [over 30] defensive tackles picked over me in the draft, and to coming into the league and not making my first team, nothing new [fazes] me,” Barnes said.
http://douglascourier.com/2014/12/determination-leads-success-new-york-jets-t-j-barnes/
For New York Jets defensive tackle T.J. Barnes, football hasn’t always been his dream. The fourth-generation athlete and Georgia Institute of Technology graduate envisioned himself as a golfer in high school, but his 6-foot-7 stature seemed better fit for the football field.
Barnes found himself lying to his father, Terry Jones, a big football star in his hometown who went on to play at Auburn, about trying out for the football team in his freshman year of high school, when in reality he was trying out for the golf team.
“Football tryouts were over and being the type of guy he was, my father wanted to go out to see if his son was trying to live up his legacy, which I wasn’t,” Barnes said. “The whole reason I started playing football is because my father asked to go meet my coaches.”
Barnes first realized that he had a potential future in football during a 2010 game against Clemson University in which he had his first collegiate sack against future Jets teammate quarterback Tajh Boyd.
“[Boyd] and I went back and forth about it [in the offseason],” Barnes said with a laugh. “I was just putting numbers up the whole game and it felt like it was effortless. I felt like I could have an even better game and that’s when I realized that I could probably make a living [by] playing ball. Things became so simple after that.”
Barnes derives his motivation for improvement by recalling when his football aspirations almost disappeared.
“I know what it’s like to not have football because it was so easily taken from me,” Barnes said, referring to when the Jacksonville Jaguars waived him on August 31, 2013. “I felt like I was done after that. No team was calling or showing any interest for a while. I was out of football for at least two months and I was staying on my best friend’s couch. Just remembering everyday those times that I had gone through to get into the position that I’m in now keeps me motivated.”
Barnes would face months of uncertainty, as nobody, not even his agent, knew what to tell him regarding his future.
“As the weeks progressed, it was getting tougher and tougher,” Barnes said. “My girlfriend was my backbone throughout my offseason training and camp.”
Upon signing with the Jets, Barnes would constantly be reminded by members of the organization to remember the times of struggle.
“[Receiving the call from the Jets] was like a big sigh of relief,” Barnes said. “It was like ‘cool, at least somebody out there really believes in me.’ Words can’t even explain how I was feeling.”
Since joining New York, Barnes began working out individually and dropped almost 30 pounds in the offseason, a testament to his determination to be successful.
“It was always me versus myself in the workouts,” Barnes said. “My brother helped me out a little bit and challenged me to realize that it is a mental game more than it is [a physical one] to see if I could beat out my mind, which was saying ‘you don’t have anything and you can’t go anymore,’ when in actuality I do have a little bit more and can keep pushing. That’s how I was able to overcome all of the mental aspects of being in the NFL.”
According to Barnes, he has always had a chip on his shoulder.
“From high school and schools not believing that I can play defense, to getting into college, to always having to prove that I can be a starter and not starting until my senior year, to seeing [over 30] defensive tackles picked over me in the draft, and to coming into the league and not making my first team, nothing new [fazes] me,” Barnes said.