Darren Alan Barnett (May 22, 1984 - July 1, 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 ...

player who was a cornerback. Barnett was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He played scholastically at Princeton High School and collegiately at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

and

Southwest Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

. Barnett was signed 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He was released at the end of the pre-season, but was added to their practice squad in mid-October and earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

with the team for their victory in

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. He again spent training camp with the Giants in 2008, but again was released at the end of the pre-season. Barnett spent the 2009 season with the

Odessa Roughnecks ODESSA is an American codename (from the German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Nazi underground escape-plans made at the end of World War II by a group of ' ...

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 ...

. Barnett was the nephew of Harlon Barnett, who also played at Princeton and Michigan State. Barnett was shot to death in St. Louis on July 1, 2021 at age 37.

Early years

Barnett graduated from Princeton High School in 2003. Barnett committed to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

on July 8, 2003.

References

External links

New York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Darren 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football cornerbacks Missouri State Bears football players New York Giants players Cincinnati Commandos players Odessa Roughnecks players