Defense Star for Giants of the 1960s Erich Barnes dies at 86


Hard-hitting, fast-paced corner player Erich Barnes, who helped carry the Giants to three consecutive NFL championship games in the early 1960s, died Friday in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. He was 86 years old.

His death at a hospital was announced by the Giants, who said he came after a long illness but did not provide additional details.

Playing for 14 seasons, three with the Chicago Bears, four with the Giants, and seven with the Cleveland Browns, Barnes has often been paired with the best wide receivers in the league.

He made 45 passes in his career and ran seven backs for goals. He tied an NFL record for longest interception return for a touchdown when he received a pass from the Dallas Cowboys. Eddie LeBaron competed in an October 1961 game and for a score of 102 yards.

At 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds, Barnes had a good size for a corner kicker of his time.

“I was like a dictator or intimidator,” he told his website. scout.com in 2008. “I kept buyers unprepared. I never let them get into a rhythm. I always wanted the receiver to go where I wanted it to go.”

Barnes was voted into the Pro Bowl with the Bears in 1959, the Giants every season from 1961 to 1964, and the Browns in 1968. Selected as the first-team All-Pro in 1961, when he catches seven passes, he returns two for points.

Famously solid Giants mid-back “Barnes was tall and thin and had a bit of a bad streak in him” Sam Huff He was remembered in the movie “Hard Things: The Man in the Middle” (1988), co-written with Leonard Shapiro. “If you catch a ball in front of Erich Barnes, he’ll make you pay for it. When you catch something close to the edge, you better go out of bounds because Erich will come after you.”

Erich (pronounced EE rich) Theodore Barnes was born on July 4, 1935, in Elkhart, Ind. His father, Sylvester, was a real estate investor; his mother, Lura, was a housewife.

Erich grew up a Browns fan. Hired by Purdue, he played midfielder on offense and defense and was also a receiver. He was selected by the Bears in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL draft.

Barnes joined the Giants in 1961 in a triple trade where they sent corner player Lindon Crow to the Los Angeles Rams.

coached by Allie ShermanThe Giants won the Eastern Conference championship from 1961 to 1963, but lost twice to the Green Bay Packers and then the Bears in the NFL championship game each year.

Giants teams of that era, Andy Robustelli, Dick ModzelewskiRoosevelt Grier and Jim Katcavage even, on the Huff linebacker, Barnes and Dick Lynch on the corner and Jim Patton in security, he has made the defensive play a glamorous part of professional football. game host YA TitleTaken from the San Francisco 49ers, he became famous in New York for his brilliant crossing.

Barnes took 18 passes while playing for the Giants, and the Packer punt block in the 1962 NFL championship game resulted in Jim Collier’s final zone rebound, giving the Giants their only touchdown in a 16-7 loss.

One of Barnes’ greatest plays came when the Giants played the Philadelphia Eagles at Yankee Stadium in November 1961.

Pete Previte, a club official, advised Giant coaches to put the fastest players in a line-up when the time came for a long pass.

Late in the first half, Sherman placed Barnes and Patton as slot buyers, swapping two runners and retaining their regular pass catcher, the winger. Kyle Memorization And it ends Del Shofner and Joe Walton, at game. All five landed on the field, and Tittle threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Barnes. The Giants won the game 38-21.

After the Giants’ three conference championship seasons, the core of the team began to split, either through trades or retirement.

The Giants traded Barnes to the Browns in August 1965, after going 2-10-2 in 1964. He played on Cleveland teams that went to three NFL championship games and lost each time, as did the Giants.

Barnes retired after the 1971 season and became a planner of special events for businesses in the New York area.

He was survived by his wife, Violet Ward Barnes; daughters Charissa Barnes-Johnson, Djuna Barnes and Tessa Robinson; sisters Joan Murkey and Linda Turner; three grandchildren; and two grandchildren. He had homes in Yonkers, NY and Joliet, Ill.

Barnes was an astute player, although he was notorious for his sometimes over-the-top hits. Sports Illustrated once said of his “When I was with the Giants and I came to Cleveland they called me scumbag” but after he was traded to the Browns, “The Giants would call me scumbag and Cleveland would call me scumbag. Call me aggressive.”

As he said, “It all depends on where you play.”



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