Barrick Nealy (born August 7, 1983) is a former American and

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

. Nealy is currently the Wide Receiver Coach for the

San Marcos Baptist Academy San Marcos Academy or SMA (also known as San Marcos Baptist Academy or SMBA) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory Christian school that is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. It is accredited by the Southern As ...

in San Marcos, TX.

College career

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest universit ...

, Nealy was honored as the 2005

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

Player of the Year after leading Texas State to its first-ever regular season conference championshi

He held Texas State's career records for passing yards and total yards, and finished fifth in the voting for the 2005

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

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For the twenty previous years, prior to Nealy coming to the institution from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

, the Bobcats had never made the I-AA playoffs. During his senior season, Nealy led his team to playoff victories over Georgia Southern and Cal Poly before falling in the I-AA semifinals to eventual I-AA runner-up the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gr ...

. All three games were nationally televised by ESPN2 from Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. The playoff dream may have not been realized had the Bobcats fallen in their season finale to rival Sam Houston State. Despite several Nealy turnovers, the Bobcats prevailed in overtime over the Bearkats in San Marcos. The Bobcats entered the playoffs as a fourth seed. Nealy had a standout performance against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

in a game that took place in College Station, Texas. In this game Nealy went 26 for 34, completing 76.5% of his passes for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed for 36 yards and another score. This game made many around the nation and in the state of Texas take notice of the Bobcats and more importantly, Nealy. Perhaps Nealy's most dominant game came in the NCAA playoffs against powerhouse Georgia Southern. In that game the Bobcats were trailing late in the fourth quarter and fought back to pull off a huge 50–35 victory. Nealy went 23 for 32 (71.9%) for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. He rushed the ball for 126 yards and one more score.

Professional career

Nealy declared himself eligible for the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

, but was not selected. He signed on as a free agent Wide Receiver with the Minnesota Vikings in May 2006. He was released by the Vikings in July 2006 and signed a contract with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League instead. Assigned to the practice roster, Nealy later asked to be released from his contract to attend personal business. In 2007, he returned to the Stampeders as the third quarterback on the roster. Nealy retired from the Stampeders after two meetings with head coach Hufnagel on Friday, June 11, 2010, saying that football was no longer fun for him. He was retained on the retired list rather than simply being released, which entitles the Stampeders to compensation in the event that he signs with another team.Cameron, A
"QB Nealy walks away from Stampeders"
''Montreal Gazette'', 11 June 2010.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nealy, Barrick 1983 births Living people American football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football Calgary Stampeders players Houston Cougars football players Texas State Bobcats football players Canadian football quarterbacks Players of American football from Dallas Players of Canadian football from Dallas