Barry Antoine Minter (born January 28, 1970) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

Early life

Minter attended Mount Pleasant High School, where he lettered in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track. As a junior, he earned All-state honors in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

. As a senior, he received All-district honors in football and

. While playing for the Tigers football team, Barry would often play tuba, in uniform, with the Goin' Gold Tiger Marching Band at halftime during games. He accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a freshman. Although he was recruited as a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, he was converted into a

in 1989. He was a backup during his first two seasons and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in 1990. As a junior, he started 10 games at

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

, becoming the defense best player, while ranking second on the team in tackles with 89 (56 solo), despite missing the eighth game of the season because of a left knee ligament sprain. He also compiled 5 sacks, 2 quarterback pressures, 11 tackles for loss, 3 passes defensed, 6 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions, including one returned for a 48-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. As a senior, he posted 119 tackles (2 for loss), 9 quarterback pressures, one sack and one interception that he returned for a 74-yard

against the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

. He was nicknamed "Deer" because of his acceleration, finishing his college career with 261 tackles (141 solo), 11 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 12 quarterback pressures and 6 interceptions.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Minter was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the sixth round (168th overall) of the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

. On August 17, after former Cowboys defensive coordinator

Dave Wannstedt David Raymond Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is an American former college and professional football coach. He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was also the head coach of th ...

became the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for the

, he was traded along with

Vinson Smith and a sixth-round draft pick (#198- Carl Reeves), in exchange for

John Roper,

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Kelly Blackwell and

Markus Paul. It has been reported that Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson accepted the trade to help close friend

in his new job, with all of the players received eventually being waived.

Chicago Bears

Minter was used both as an

outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

and

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

in nickel packages until

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, when he became a starter at

after

Bryan Cox Bryan Keith Cox Sr. (born February 17, 1968) is an American professional football coach and former player who currently serves as the assistant defensive line coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a l ...

was lost for the season with a broken thumb and finished with 106 tackles. The next year, he led the team with 125 tackles and 6 sacks. He led the team in tackles 4 straight years (–), until injuring his back in the second game of the 2000 season and being replaced in the starting lineup by rookie

Brian Urlacher Brian Urlacher (; born May 25, 1978) is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, earning co ...

, who became an

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

and never relinquished the position back to him. Minter was released because of salary-cap reasons on June 1,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Cleveland Browns

On August 12,

, the

signed him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He appeared in one game before being waived on September 20.

Personal life

Minter was also known as one of the standout stars of the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

NFL Blitz ''NFL Blitz'' is a series of American football themed video game originally released by Midway featuring National Football League (NFL) teams. It began as a 1997 arcade game '' NFL Blitz'' that was ported to home consoles and spawned a series of ...

video game.

References

External links

Replacement Game Never Ends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minter, Barry Living people 1970 births Players of American football from Mount Pleasant, Texas American football middle linebackers Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players