Elijah J. "E. J." Barthel (born February 1, 1985) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

fullback and current running backs coach for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

. He was signed by the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The team played their ...

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 ...

in 2009. 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 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Barthel grew up in

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

and attended Henry P. Becton Regional High School.

College career

Barthel played his first three years at Rutgers University. He redshirted his Freshman year and was injured as a redshirt Freshman. His Sophomore year he played in 2 games. Barthel transferred to UMass, along with Tight end Brad Listorti, as a Junior and played in all 15 games, starting 3. He rushed twice for 7 yards and had a catch for 20. He was a major contributor on special teams and had 4 tackles as UMass made it to the National Championship that year in 2006. As a senior Barthel battled injuries and only registered 1 rush of 5 yards and 1 catch for 4 yards.E.J. Barthel
,

UMass Minutemen football The UMass Minutemen football team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Minutemen compete as an NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, FBS independent. Since 1965, their ...

. Accessed September 15, 2011.

Professional career

Barthel had a tryout with 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 ...

but was not signed by the team. Barthel signed with the

for the 2009 season where he teamed with fellow UMass football alum Marcel Shipp.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barthel, E. J. 1985 births Living people American football fullbacks People from East Rutherford, New Jersey Players of American football from Santa Cruz, California Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey Las Vegas Locomotives players UMass Minutemen football players Howard Bison football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches