Darian Durrell Barnes (born February 28, 1980) 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 ...

player who was a fullback 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

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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 ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. 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

Hampton Pirates The Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates refer to the sports teams representing Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia in intercollegiate athletics. The Pirates and Lady Pirates compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS ...

Early life

Barnes attended

Toms River High School North Toms River High School North is a four-year comprehensive public high school, and was the second public high school established in Toms River, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Toms River Regional School ...

. As a senior, he only played in 8 games, registering 148 carries for 1,163 yards and 15

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 ...

s. He received second-team All-state by ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'' and first-team all-county honors at the end of the season.

College career

Barnes accepted a football scholarship from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. He did not play in any game as a freshman. He tallied 20 carries for 50 yards as a sophomore. He sat out his junior season until transferring to

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

. As a senior, he appeared in 10 games, posting 27 carries for 93 yards, one

and one reception for 7 yards.

Professional career

New York Giants

Barnes was signed as an

undrafted 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 ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

after the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

on July 25. He was waived on September 1.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On September 2,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he was claimed off waivers by the

. He appeared in six games and was declared inactive in ten contests, playing mainly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

(three tackles) and being a part of the

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

winning team. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, he appeared in 14 games, before being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

on December 16, with a sprained left AC joint. He finished with 7

tackles. On April 25,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he was traded along with a seventh round pick (#216-

Patrick Crayton Patrick Jamel Crayton (born April 7, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. He played college football for the North ...

) to the

in exchange for a seventh round draft choice (#206- Mark Jones).

Dallas Cowboys

, he was acquired to complement Richie Anderson and be the team's blocking fullback for rookie running back Julius Jones. During the season, he recorded 10 receptions for 59 yards, including his only career touchdown, a 5-yard reception, against 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 ...

. On August 24,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he was waived injured (sprained ankle) and replaced with second-year player

Lousaka Polite Lousaka Romon Polite (born September 14, 1981) is an American former professional football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Atlanta Falcons. He played ...

Miami Dolphins

On October 24,

, he signed 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 ...

with the

to be the team's blocking fullback for running backs

Ronnie Brown Ronnie G. Brown Jr. (born December 12, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). After graduating from Cartersville High School in Georgia, Brown attended Auburn Uni ...

and

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the ...

. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, he appeared in 16 games (6 starts), making 3 receptions for 22 yards.

New York Jets

On March 8,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he was signed by the

to be the fullback for Thomas Jones, who was also his teammate with the

. He appeared in 5 games (3 starts) and was declared inactive in 4 contests. He was released on November 29.

Buffalo Bills

On January 17,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, the

signed him as the first move for both

Turk Schonert Turk Leroy Schonert (January 15, 1957 – January 17, 2019) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback in the NFL before becoming a coach. Schonert playe ...

as offensive coordinator and

Russ Brandon Russell Jerome Brandon (born June 1967) is an American sports executive, and current CEO and President of the United Football League (UFL). Brandon is best known for his 21-year tenure in the front office of the Buffalo Bills of the National F ...

as Vice President. This marked the return of the fullback to the Bills' offensive system. He was released four games into the season on September 30, after suffering a sprained right foot against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

on September 21. The Bills signed fullback Corey McIntyre to take his place on the roster.

Detroit Lions

On October 28,

, Barnes was signed by the

to replace injured rookie fullback

Jerome Felton Jerome Jean-Marie Felton (born July 3, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback n the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Furman Paladins, and was selected by the Detroit Lions i ...

. On November 11, he was released after the team re-signed

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Aveion Cason Aveion Marquel Cason (born July 12, 1979) is an American former professional football running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Flo ...

New Orleans Saints

On November 18,

, he was signed by the

to replace injured fullback Mike Karney, reuniting with

Sean Payton Patrick Sean Payton (born December 29, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he served as the head coach of the Ne ...

who was his offensive coordinator with the Cowboys. He was waived on December 21. He was re-signed to a future contract following the end of the season. He was released on July 23,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Personal life

Barnes created a comic book called "National Triumph League" along with a partner, which sees professional athletes blessed with superhuman talent. Barnes and his wife, Rebecca, have four daughters, Damara, Darren, Daylin and Draya. In 2013, Barnes returned to his alma mater Toms River North as an assistant coach. In 2014, he was named the interim head coach at

Colts Neck High School Colts Neck High School is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Colts Neck Township, New Jersey, Colts Neck Township, in Monmouth County, New Je ...

. In January 2015, he was promoted to head coach permanently. He resigned after the 2017 season, finishing with an 8-22 record. In June 2020, he competed on the 20th season of the Food Network show

Worst Cooks in America ''Worst Cooks in America'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, t ...

References

External links

Twitter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Darian 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey Players of American football from Ocean County, New Jersey Toms River High School North alumni American football fullbacks Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players Hampton Pirates football players New York Giants players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Dallas Cowboys players Miami Dolphins players New York Jets players Buffalo Bills players Detroit Lions players New Orleans Saints players Florida Tuskers players