Author: David Shama

October 20 and 21 will be a once-in-a-lifetime football weekend for the Barber family of suburban Minneapolis.  On Saturday Dom Barber, a senior, plays one of his last games for the University of Minnesota against North Dakota State in the Metrodome.  On Sunday former Gopher and older brother Marion Barber III plays against the hometown Minnesota Vikings in Dallas.

All the focus on Dom and Marion will make a statement as to how exceptional these former Wayzata High School stars have become.  Dom, among the better strong safeties in college football, will have four games remaining in his Gopher career after Saturday.  Marion, now in his third season with the Cowboys, has been enhancing his reputation as one of the NFL’s best young running backs and will play Sunday against the Vikings for the first time in a regular season game.

Success in football, of course, is associated with the Barber name.  Dad Marion II was one of the best running backs ever at the University of Minnesota.  He ranked second in all-time career touchdowns at Minnesota with 34 before his son scored 35 to come within five touchdowns of tying Darrell Thompson’s record total of 40.  Marion II played several seasons in the NFL.

The Vikings and the rest of the NFL missed out when they didn’t choose the younger Marion in the 2005 draft.  The Cowboys used a fourth round pick to select him, who along with Laurence Maroney made up the Gophers’ best one-two running back combo in school history.

Marion had to experience the challenge of not only learning the pro game but doing it under tough guy coach Bill Parcells.  In a surprising rookie season, Marion played in 13 games (started two) while rushing for 538 yards and five touchdowns.

Last season he played in all 16 regular season games (started one) while rushing for 654 and 14 touchdowns.  Through the early part of this season only three NFL players had scored more touchdowns than Marion’s five, although as in the past he is still sharing playing time with Julius Jones and had not started a game.

“I think Marion Barber right now is truly one of the great young backs in the National Football League,” Gopher football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners last week.  “I think he’s got a chance to be a featured back now.  He can be an every down back.  He’s an outstanding pass receiver.  He’s a blocker.  He’s one of the more complete backs that I see in the National Football League.”

First as a Gopher and now as a Cowboy, Barber is still running for tough yards, showing emotion and strength as he moves toward the goal line.  Among his roles with the Cowboys has been as a third down rusher.

Brewster followed Marion when he was an assistant coach in the NFL. “I know this, when we were in San Diego (as an assistant coach to Marty Schottenheimer) we loved him,” Brewster said. “I was in Denver (and) Mike Shanahan loved Marion. Absolutely loved his ability.

“Every time he touches the ball he’s productive.  He doesn’t lose yards.  He’s a guy that moves the chains. Strong, powerful. …”

Where does Brewster rank Marion among NFL backs?  “If you’re trying to figure out I want one of the top 10 backs in the National Football League, I certainly believe Marion’s got to be one of them. …I think he’s on the cusp of doing something, really break out type stuff. …”

Dom stays in touch with his older brother.  He said his parents make an effort to attend games of both sons, with an emphasis this year on Dom’s games because this is his senior season.

The Gophers are 1-6 this season, including 0-4 in the Big Ten Conference.  The Cowboys are 5-1.  Dom admires his brother’s attitude and with the Gophers’ record it’s easy to see how it’s useful to him.  “He’s the type of guy that whatever happens, happens,” Dom told Sports Headliners last week.  “He says you got to just keep fighting. You got to keep going and good things will happen. …”

Dom said that although he played running back in high school, he never pressed to play that position with the Gophers.  The team needed help on defense and that’s where he’s stayed. His presence on defense is of some comfort to Brewster whose defense is among the worst in college football. “His (Marion’s) brother is playing extremely well for us,” Brewster said last week.  “I shudder to think where we would be defensively without him.”

Dom couldn’t have expected so much responsibility in his senior season.  Dominic Jones, the team’s best cornerback and defensive player, was asked to leave the team before the season.  Other experienced secondary players haven’t stepped up.  Brewster has turned to true freshmen to join Dom in the backfield.

“He’s a mother hen back there in the secondary,” Brewster said.  “He’s got three true freshmen that he’s trying to line up and he’s trying to guide around. And he has an upset stomach because of it. But I am going to tell you what; he’s playing his butt off.  Dom Barber is playing as good a football on the defensive side as anybody in the Big Ten.  He’s tackling, he’s making plays. … I mean the guy is all over the field. …He honors the game the way he plays it.  Each and every game he’s mentally prepared. He does things right and he’s obviously one of the better players in the Big Ten.”

Dom is the leading tackler on the Gopher team.  In last Saturday’s 49-48 overtime loss to Northwestern he was selected by WCCO Radio as Minnesota’s defensive player of the game.  In the game Dom made key plays including a Northwestern player committing pass interference against him.

Brewster told Sports Headliners earlier this year that Dom is the best pro prospect among his seniors.  “He’s got all the attributes you look for in a safety,” Brewster said. “Very physical guy.  He’s got speed.  He can cover half the field.  He can cover a tight end.  He’s a blitzer.  I think Dom Barber is a real good pro prospect.”

Adrian Peterson told Fox-TV prior to its telecast of the Viking-Bear game that his goals are to rush for 1,800 yards and be the NFL’s Rookie of the Year.  Peterson ran for three touchdowns yesterday as the Vikings ended a six game road losing streak.  Peterson has now rushed for a league leading 607 yards. The Vikings, who entered the game with a total of two passes for touchdowns and two runs for scores in four games, produced four offensive touchdowns and a field goal to win 34-31.  The Vikings had the fewest offensive touchdowns of any NFL team coming into yesterday’s game.

Minnesota coach Tim Brewster decided on a two point conversion attempt at the end of the second overtime and the Gophers failed, losing 49-48 to Northwestern.  Among the interesting ways of looking at that decision is the college rule mandating teams must attempt a two-point conversion beginning with a third overtime (no extra point attempts allowed).  By making an extra point and going to a third overtime, the Gophers could have postponed the higher risk task of trying to make a two point conversion.

Look for the crowd at Saturday’s Minnesota-North Dakota State game in the dome to be more vocal in favor of the Bison than the Gophers.  The game may sellout later in the week and large numbers of tickets have been purchased by North Dakota State fans.  Others have received tickets from Gopher season ticket purchasers.  The Bison are No. 1 in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision rankings.

Representatives of both the Gopher athletic department and Star Tribune said they have received few comments about local cable subscribers not being able to see Minnesota football games on the Big Ten Network.  Presumably more comments are being sent directly to the cable companies or Big Ten Network.  Also, there’s a lack of interest in the Gophers because of their 1-6 record.

It was on this date in 1967 that the Minnesota North Stars played their first regular season game, losing on the road to the California Seals, according to sports encyclopaedia.com.  Six days later the team played its first game ever in Met Center, a new facility built adjacent to Met Stadium.  In the early years of the North Stars, fans dressed up for the games at Met Center with men wearing suits and women in expensive fur coats.

Tom Hanneman will be working Timberwolves telecasts for a 19^th season in 2007-2008.  Jim Petersen returns for his 10^th season as a Wolves TV analyst.

Theo Ratliff, the Timberwolves 34-year-old center who has had back problems, told Sports Headliners he can’t play as many as 32 minutes per game.

I like Wheaties Field as the name for the new downtown baseball stadium.  Send me your suggested names, ds@shamasportsheadliners.com.

Rondell White, expected to announce his retirement before next season, has hardly been a “hit” for the Twins in two seasons but he has a career average of .284 and hit .300 multiple times in the past, including 2005 in Detroit. White produced 11 home runs with 58 RBI in two seasons with the Twins, with batting averages of .246 and .174.