Eric Barton (born September 29, 1977) 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

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 ...

for 12 seasons 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). 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

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

before he was selected by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He played for the Raiders from 1999 to 2003, the

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 ...

from 2004 to 2008, and the

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 ...

from 2009 to 2010.

Early life

Barton went to

Thomas A. Edison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia) Thomas Alva Edison High School is one of 25 high schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Thomas Edison is an International Baccalaureate school. Edison High School has traditionally been a relatively small public high school in te ...

in Alexandria, Virginia. He earned

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors from the National Recruiting Advisor and an All-Atlantic Coast recognition from Blue Chip Illustrated Magazine and was rated 10th-best football player in Virginia by

Super Prep ''Super Prep'' is a former sports magazine that was based in Laguna Beach, California. It was published in 1985 by Allen Wallace, a lawyer. Its main focus is to provide recruiting information on high school football players. In 1987, ''The Boston ...

Magazine as a senior.

College career

Barton attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

where he majored in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and criminal justice. He recorded more than 100 tackles as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

at Maryland, which helped land him fourth on the career tackles list. He also led the ACC in solo tackles as junior and senior. He was an All-ACC first-team selection as senior and led conference in total tackles (159) and average tackles per game (14.5).

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Barton was selected by the

in the fifth round (146th overall) of the

. He saw action in all of his 16 games in the

1999 NFL season The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season (NFL), regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 NFL season, 1995 season, while the Tennessee Oilers chan ...

, making three starts and finishing with 29 tackles and two sacks. He recorded a sack in the first play of his first NFL start and finished with, a team-high, eight tackles in Week 15 vs.

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 ...

. He started and tallied 13 tackles at LB in

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 ...

in a loss to the Buccaneers. He led the team for the ninth time on the season with a nine-tackle performance vs. the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the season finale.

New York Jets

Barton signed with the

as an

unrestricted 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 2004. He registered nine or more tackles seven times in the

2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004, to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced ...

, including an AFC Wild Card victory over the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors as a result of nine tackles, one sack, one INT, two PD, one FF and one FR in a Week 15 win vs. the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. Barton led the defense with a career-high 16 tackles, including 12 solo and one for loss, in a defeat against the

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 ...

. He was placed on the

Injured Reserve 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 ...

, for the first time in his career after suffering an ankle injury. He also became the first Jet defender since 2000 to record a sack and interception on the same drive against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. To that point, he played in 120 career regular season games with 85 starts. He had recorded 680 tackles, 18.5 sacks, four INTs, 18 passes deflected, six forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries in his career. Barton had also posted four seasons with 100 or more total tackles.

Cleveland Browns

Barton signed with the

as an

on March 13, 2009, and played 2 years with them. Up to the 2010 NFL season, after 12 years of play, he is the only player still active in the NFL among those drafted in the fifth round of the

. On February 9, 2011, Barton was released by the Browns.

Personal life

Barton was adopted and met his brother, Aaron Curry, a former NFL linebacker, and his birth mother, Chris Curry, for the first time on October 30, 2010.

References

External links

*
Cleveland Browns bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Eric 1977 births Living people Players of American football from Alexandria, Virginia American football linebackers Maryland Terrapins football players Oakland Raiders players New York Jets players Cleveland Browns players Thomas A. Edison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia) alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen