Danton L. Barto (March 31, 1971 – August 22, 2021) was an American 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 ...

and coach. 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 ...

for the Memphis State Tigers, and professionally for the

Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 CFL season, 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to CFL USA, expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) and the

Connecticut Coyotes The Connecticut Coyotes were an arena football franchise based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Coyotes played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League. History On June 22, 1994, the Arena Football League a ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He was also the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators and

Kansas City Command The Kansas City Command (formerly the Kansas City Brigade) were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was founded before the 2006 season. Former Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Kevin Por ...

of the AFL.

Early life

Barto was born in Muncy, Pennsylvania. He later moved to

Niceville, Florida Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located near Eglin Air Force Base on Boggy Bayou that opens into Choctawhatchee Bay. It is part of the Crestview- Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, and attended

Niceville High School Niceville Senior High School (NHS) is a public high school in the city of Niceville, Florida. It is ranked as the top high school within its high-performing Okaloosa County School District. In 1996, NHS was selected as one of 226 secondary schoo ...

. In 2023, his 55 jersey was retired by Niceville High. It was the first number ever retired by the school.

College career

Barto played

Memphis State University The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

(now University of Memphis) from 1990 to 1993. 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 ...

by the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

in 1989. He recorded four interceptions in 1992, earning first-team All-Independent Football Alliance (IFA) and IFA Defensive Player of the Year honors. Barto totaled 144 tackles in 1993, garnering first-team All-IFA recognition for the second consecutive season. He was inducted into the University of Memphis M-Club Hall of Fame in 2007. As of 2022, he is still the team's all-time leader in both solo tackles with 273 and total tackles with 473. A

Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

petition was started to request that Barto's jersey number be retired by Memphis. After undergoing a formal process, Barto's No. 59 jersey was retired by the school in November 2022. As of September 23, 2022, the petition had garnered 2,319 signatures.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

, Barto signed with the

Shreveport Pirates The Shreveport Pirates were a Canadian Football League team, playing at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. They were established in 1994 as part of the CFL's expansion into the United States and disbanded upon the ...

of the

(CFL) but did not play in any games for the team during the 1994 season. He dressed in 18 games for the CFL's

in 1995, totaling 27 defensive tackles, 10 special teams tackles, one sack, one pass breakup, and two fumble recoveries, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He was selected by the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the CFL in the 1996 dispersal draft in early March 1996. He was later released by the team in early June without appearing in any games. He signed with the

of the

(AFL) in late March 1996. Barto played in two games for the Coyotes during the 1996 season as a fullback/linebacker, recording one solo tackle and one assisted tackle.

Coaching career

Barto was the defensive coordinator of the

Memphis Xplorers The Memphis Xplorers were a professional arena football team. They were a 2001 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi (a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee). The team's logo featu ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

during their inaugural season in 2001. He then served as the team's head coach from 2002 to 2006. In 2005, he was named the af2 Coach of the Year and won ArenaCup VI. The Xplorers folded after the 2006 season. Barto was the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators of the AFL in 2007. After starting the season with 2–10 record, it was reported that he would be let go after the season. Barto and the Gladiators went on to finish the year with a 2–14 record. He was the head coach of the af2's

Manchester Wolves The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of th ...

from 2008 to 2009. The Wolves went 9–7 in the 2008 regular season, and lost in the American Conference championship game to the

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He was the head coach of the

Arkansas Diamonds The Arkansas Diamonds were a soccer club based in Little Rock, Arkansas that competed in the SISL and USISL. The team was first owned by Samir Haj, a youth club coach based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The franchise struggled for funding as it fir ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL) in 2010, leading the team to an 11–3 regular season record and a loss in the conference championship game to the

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto A ...

. Barto was the head coach of the

of the AFL from 2011 to 2012, compiling an overall record of 9–27. He was the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL) in 2018. The team went 0–15 and folded after the season.

Head coaching record

Scouting career

Barto was a scout for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2013 to 2017. In 2022, the first-ever BART Awards, named after Barto, were given to the NFL's top scouts.

Personal life

Barto's son Will was also a member of the Memphis Tigers football team. On August 22, 2021, Danton died due to complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He was 50.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barto, Danton 1971 births 2021 deaths American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers American football fullbacks Memphis Tigers football players Shreveport Pirates players Memphis Mad Dogs players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Connecticut Coyotes players af2 coaches Las Vegas Gladiators coaches Manchester Wolves coaches Texas Revolution coaches Kansas City Command coaches National Arena League coaches St. Louis Rams scouts Los Angeles Rams scouts Players of American football from Pennsylvania Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Florida Players of Canadian football from Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Sportspeople from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania People from Niceville, Florida Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee

Early life

College career

Professional career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

Scouting career

Personal life

See also

References