Lem Barney

Lemuel Jackson Barney, an American professional football player, was a cornerback and return specialist born September 8, 1945, in Gulfport, Mississippi. He attended 33rd Avenue High School in Gulfport, where he played quarterback, and then enrolled at Jackson State University, a historically black university in Jackson, Mississippi, playing college football for the Jackson State Tigers from 1964 to 1966. The Detroit Lions selected him in the 1967 NFL/AFL draft, and he spent his entire professional career with the team, playing from 1967 to 1977 and occasionally serving as a punter. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1967, was selected as a first-team All-Pro player in 1968 and 1969, and appeared in seven Pro Bowls. Barney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He has also been inducted into the Detroit Lions Hall of Fame, the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His son, Lem Barney III, and grandson, Lem Barney IV, also graduated from Jackson State University.