Rodrigo DeTriana Barnes was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders.
13 Facts About Rodrigo Barnes
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Rodrigo Barnes's father was an Army veteran and his parents divorced when he was young.
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Rodrigo Barnes received 3A second-team All-State honors in football, in addition to participating in track.
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Rodrigo Barnes accepted a football scholarship from Rice University, where at the time he was one of only four African-American players.
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Rodrigo Barnes was named the starter at middle linebacker as a sophomore, but failed one course and had two D's, which forced the school to make him ineligible to play for 1970 season.
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Rodrigo Barnes's protests were well-known on campus and garnered him a reputation for troublemaking.
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Rodrigo Barnes was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 1973 NFL draft, after he dropped because teams were cautious of his civil rights activism.
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Rodrigo Barnes could play all three linebacker positions, but he mainly competed for the middle linebacker position against Lee Roy Jordan and was a core special teams player.
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In 1975, Rodrigo Barnes played in 2 games for the Charlotte Hornets of the World Football League, until the league ceased operations at the mid-season point in 1975.
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Rodrigo Barnes was a part of the Super Bowl XI winning team, playing mainly on special teams.
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Rodrigo Barnes retired in 1977, in part due to the numerous injuries he had sustained over his career.
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Rodrigo Barnes worked as a high school assistant principal at the Garland Alternative Education Center in the Dallas area.
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Rodrigo Barnes died in Dallas on May 16,2023, at the age of 73.