Milton J. Barney (born December 23, 1963) 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who played one season with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of 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 ...

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

. He also played for the

New Orleans Night The New Orleans Night were an Arena Football League (AFL) team that competed in the 1991 and 1992 AFL seasons and were based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The team was officially announced at a press conference on March 18, 1991. On April 9, the na ...

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).

Early life

Milton J. Barney was born on December 23, 1963. He attended

Gulfport High School Gulfport High School (GHS) is a public high school located in Gulfport, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport School District. In 2019, Gulfport High was given a B-rating from the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Th ...

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

College career

Barney was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the

Alcorn State Braves The Alcorn State Braves and Lady Braves represent Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi in intercollegiate athletics. They field 15 teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; women's- ...

from 1983 to 1986. He did not appear in any games in 1983. He caught 33 passes for 622 yards and seven touchdowns in 1984, earning

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC) Newcomer of the Year honors. The 1984 Braves were named black college national champions. Barney recorded 46 receptions for 686 yards and five touchdowns in 1985, garnering second-team All-SWAC recognition. As a senior in 1986, he caught 48 passes for 719 yards and five touchdowns earning first-team All-SWAC accolades.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 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 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

, Barney signed with the

on May 6. He was released on September 7. On September 23, Barney re-signed with the Falcons during the

1987 NFL players strike The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and president ...

. He started all three strike games for the Falcons, catching ten passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns while also returning five punts for 28 yards. He was released on October 19 after the strike ended. Barney was signed by 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 ...

on July 7, 1988. He was released on August 1, 1988, after leaving the team. He did not give a reason for leaving but had been sidelined due to an ankle injury. He signed with the Buccaneers again on February 16, 1989, but was released later that year. Barney played in nine games for the

of the

(AFL) in 1991, totaling 37 receptions for 550 yards and eight touchdowns, 11 carries for 36 yards and two touchdowns, 31 kick returns for 506 yards, 37 solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles, two interceptions, 14 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He was a wide receiver/

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

during his time in the AFL as the league played under

ironman rules The one-platoon system, also known as "iron man football", is a platoon system, rule-driven substitution pattern in American football whereby the same players were expected to stay on the field for the entire game, playing both offense and defense ...

. He earned AFL Ironman of the Year and first-team

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

honors for his performance during the 1991 season.

Personal life

Barney is the nephew of NFL player

Lem Barney Lemuel Jackson Barney (born September 8, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and return specialist for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1967 to 1977, playing occasionally as ...

and the father of baseball coach Milton Barney Jr.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney, Milton Living people 1963 births Place of birth missing (living people) American football wide receivers American football defensive backs Alcorn State Braves football players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Night players Players of American football from Gulfport, Mississippi NFL replacement players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Tampa Bay Buccaneers players