Bruce Barnes (American football)

{{Short description|American football player (born 1951)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Bruce Barnes

| position = Punter

| number = 3

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|6|21}}

| birth_place = Coshocton, Ohio, U.S.

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lbs = 215

| high_school = Sanger Union
(Sanger, California)

| college = UCLA

| draftyear = 1973

| draftround = 12

| draftpick = 290

| pastteams =

| highlights =

| statseason =

| statlabel1 = Punts

| statvalue1 = 100

| statlabel2 = Punting yards

| statvalue2 = 3,738

| pfr = B/BarnBr22

}}

Bruce Barnes (born June 21, 1951) is a former punter in the National Football League (NFL).

College career

Barnes was the primary punter for UCLA Bruins for three seasons. He led the Pacific-8 in punting all three years and was named All-Pacific-8 as a senior.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzKCDwAAQBAJ&q=Bruce+Barnes&pg=PT456|title=UCLA Football Encyclopedia|chapter=1972|first=Spencer|last=Stueve|date=4 September 2018|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781683582557|access-date=May 10, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8eURAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ee0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7242%2C3695988 |work=The Spokesman-Review |agency=Associated Press |title=Trojans top Pac-8 team |date=November 25, 1972 |access-date=May 10, 2020}}

Professional career

Barnes was selected in the 12th round (290th overall) of the 1973 NFL draft by the New England Patriots.{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2015/04/ultimate_all-time_patriots_draft.html|title=The Ultimate Patriots Draft: A Look at Their History of Player Selection by Range, Not Round|first=Chad|last=Finn|website=Boston.com|access-date=May 10, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bruinsnation.com/2020/4/21/21229586/nfl-draft-selections-ucla-bruins-troy-aikman-jonathan-ogden-josh-rosen-kenny-clark|title=Every UCLA Bruin selected in the NFL draft|first=Cam|last=Mellor|website=BruinsNation.com|publisher=SB Nation|date=April 21, 2020|access-date=May 10, 2020}} As a rookie, Barnes punted 55 times for 2,134 yards (38.8 average).{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BarnBr22.htm|title=Bruce Barnes Stats|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=May 10, 2020}} Barnes served as the Patriots' punter for the first nine games of the 1974 season before he was waived in November.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/14/archives/violent-fans-a-problem-for-patroiots.html|title=Violent Fans a Problem for Patriots|work=The New York Times|date=November 14, 1974|access-date=May 10, 2020}}

Personal life

Barnes is the father of professional golfer Ricky Barnes.{{cite web|url=https://www.golfdigest.com/story/golf_bethpage_barnes_rosaforte0629|title=Ricky's Wild Ride|first=Tim|last=Rosaforte|work=Golf Digest|date=June 23, 2009|access-date=May 10, 2020}}

References