Ramses Alexander Barden (born January 1, 1986) 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

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 ...

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

Cal Poly Mustangs The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty teams and competes in NCAA D ...

and was selected 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 ...

in the third round of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. Against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, Barden won

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI 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 ...

with the Giants.

Early life

Barden was born in

Altadena, California Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, California, Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtow ...

. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Flintridge Preparatory School Flintridge Preparatory School, familiarly known as Flintridge Prep, or simply Prep, is a highly ranked coeducational day school for grades 7-12. Founded in 1933, it is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Facilities Sch ...

in La Canada Flintridge, California. The three-time all-league selection caught 41 passes for 915 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, while also playing free safety. As well as playing football, Barden averaged 17 points per game in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and competed also in

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He was also named small schools High School Athlete of the Year, while being pursued by UPenn,

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and Cal Poly. Barden ultimately signed with the

Collegiate career

Freshman season

Barden arrived at Cal Poly in 2004, but redshirted his true freshman season. In 2005 as a redshirt freshman, Barden led the Mustangs with 40 receptions for 655 yards and 9 touchdowns en route to being named a first-team All-

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

selection. In the game against

Southern Utah Dixie is a nickname for the populated, lower-elevation area of south-central Washington County, the southwest corner of the State of Utah, bordering nearby Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. The area lies in the northeastern Mojave ...

, Barden caught a career-high 9 receptions, while blocking two field goal attempts in games against South Dakota State and

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural Colle ...

Sophomore season

As a sophomore in 2006, Barden again led Cal Poly with 42 receptions for 824 yards and 5 touchdowns while being named a first-team All-Great West selection for the second-straight season. In the September matchup against Sacramento State, Barden earned Great West Conference Player of the Week honors with his 9-reception, 200-yard and 2-touchdown performance. In the following game against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, he had 7 catches for 110 yards and a score. Barden's 824 receiving yards placed 11th on the all-time school single-season list, while he was named a College Sporting All-American.

Junior season

As a junior in 2007, Barden made the All-Great West First Team and was named the Great West Co-Offensive Player of the Year. He had 57 receptions for 1,467 yards and 18 touchdowns. In a 48-28 win over Idaho State, he had 10 catches for a career-high 268 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Following the year, he finished 15th in the

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

voting, collecting 30 points, including one first-place ballot.

Senior season

As a senior in 2008, Barden matched his junior-year mark of 18 touchdowns and improved his reception total with 67. He had 1,257 yards receiving. Midway through the season, a Cal Poly student began printing T-shirts stating "Throw it to Ramses" which became sought-after items in the student section at Spanos Stadium. During a

Battle for the Golden Horseshoe The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe is an annual rivalry college football game played between the UC Davis Aggies and the Cal Poly Mustangs. History Although the two teams have met on the gridiron since 1939, the rivalry officially began i ...

and GWFC title-winning victory over rival UC Davis on November 15, Barden broke

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter ...

's previous division record of 17 consecutive games having scored on a reception. Barden finished his Cal Poly career with 206 receptions, 4,203 yards, and 50 touchdowns. In his last game at Cal Poly, he had 108 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-35 loss to Weber State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. After the year, Barden finished fourth in the Payton Award voting, gathering 127 total points in the balloting, including four first-place votes.

College statistics

NCAA records

* As of March 2023, Barden still held the all-time FCS record for most consecutive career games with a touchdown catch: 20

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, Barden measured in at 6-foot-6.5 tall and 225 pounds. He timed at 4.61 seconds in the 40-yard dash, lifted 17 reps on the bench press, recorded a 33.5" vertical jump, and a 9' 10" broad jump. He was also the tallest receiver in the draft class.

New York Giants

In the

, the Giants moved up six spots in the third round of the draft to select Barden. The move up cost the Giants their own third-round pick (91st overall) and one of their two fifth-rounders (164th), which they sent to their division rivals, the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He saw little playing time in his rookie season, participating in three games and recording 1 catch for 16 yards. In his second season, he had 5 catches for 64 yards in three games before being placed on injured reserve on November 16, 2010 after breaking his ankle and suffering ligament damage.Ramses Barden lands on injured reserve with broken ankle, ending season for Giants wide receiver
/ref> Placed on the Active/Physically-Unable-To-Perform List on July 29, 2011, he returned to action on November 6, 2011, catching 2 passes for 24 yards in a win against the

. Barden caught an 11-yard touchdown pass during the first half of New York's preseason game against Chicago on August 24, 2012. On September 20, 2012 vs. the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

, with

Hakeem Nicks Hakeem Amir Nicks (born January 14, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and was selected by the Ne ...

out with a foot injury, Barden had a breakout performance, with 9 catches for 138 yards. In 2013 Barden was re-signed during the Giants' training camp, although he was released shortly before the regular season began on August 31.

Buffalo Bills

After sitting out the entire

2013 NFL season The 2013 NFL season was the 94th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 48th of the Super Bowl era. The season saw the 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks capture the first championship in the franchise' ...

, Barden signed with 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 ...

on January 16, 2014. He was released on July 21, 2014.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Barden was signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

on August 6, 2014. The Jaguars released Barden on August 24, 2014.

Life after football

On July 6, 2015, Barden took part in a tryout with the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

. The tryout was limited to 10 minutes and Barden was not offered a contract or a second tryout after. He now works as a coach for the football team of Flintridge Preparatory School.

References

External links

Cal Poly Mustangs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Ramses 1986 births Living people American football wide receivers Buffalo Bills players Cal Poly Mustangs football players Jacksonville Jaguars players New York Giants players Sportspeople from Altadena, California California Polytechnic State University alumni Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen