Blue White Illustrated

now except use them as learning experiences in the hope that they will help him refine his game as a sophomore. Which is exactly what he���s done. Adam Gress, Penn State���s senior right tackle, has seen the improvement firsthand. Going against Barnes nearly every day in practice, Gress said his teammate���s development has been ���unreal.��� ���He���s one of the best defensive ends that I���ve played against ��� not just here but against other teams, too,��� Gress said. ���He���s made great progress from last season already, and I think he���s only going to go up from there.��� Gress said one of the keys to Barnes��� success is that he never seems to run out of energy. ���He���s hard-nosed and he always has a full tank of gas. He���s never slowing up. He���s never taking an off rep. He���s either going to get around you or he���s going to run straight through you. But one way or the other, he���s going to try to get to the quarterback.��� Senior defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said he, too, has seen improvement from a season ago. Although Barnes made a great first impression as a freshman, Jones said he expects even bigger things in 2013. ���I really do,��� he said. ���His style of play is very unique. I would say he���s very fluid with the stuff he does. Just seeing that from last year going into this year, he���s changed even more. He���s becoming more confident in his game, and you can really see that when he locks on people. Going against the starting tackles, his eyes get all big and he just wants the competition.��� It���s not just on the practice field, either. Senior linebacker Glenn Carson said Barnes exhibits the same energy in the weight room and in film study. ���He���s a guy who has a lot of drive,��� Carson said. ���He���s a hard worker.��� Asked where her son gets the motivation to power through a long and difficult off-season, Cynthia Barnes offers a straightforward explanation. ���He misses it,��� she said. ���There���s a big gap between November and April. So he���s at the point where he can���t wait for training to start. He wants to be the best he can be at his craft.��� The son of two Philadelphia municipal workers and the youngest of five children ��� Ronnie, Robert Jr., Derrick and Brittany are his siblings ��� Barnes was raised to appreciate the value of hard work. ���As the youngest child, he was always wise beyond his years,��� Cynthia said. ���When you grow up around older people, you tend to pick up things like that.��� His older brothers had a big influence on his football career. After seeing them go through the pee-wee football ranks, Barnes was eager for his turn. He started playing with the Aztecs when he was about 8 years old. By the time he was 13, however, he was no longer allowed to play. Around that time, Pop Warner imposed a 170pound weight limit on Barnes��� age group; he weighed 190. But he had already proved he was a capable player, and he continued to prove that throughout his high school career at Northeast. There, he developed into a consensus four-star recruit and led the Vikings to their first Philadelphia Public League championship in almost 20 years. Barnes hoped to enjoy similar success at Penn State, and so far he has. Although he still has three more seasons of eligibility remaining, he���s the subject of considerable fan and media attention. Recently, Barnes was one of several players who met with a host of Penn State beat writers inside the Lasch Building to discuss the team���s ongoing spring practice sessions. He stood by a wall that was covered with images of former Nittany Lion defensive linemen Jared Odrick, Jimmy Kennedy, Aaron Maybin, Tamba Hali and Courtney Brown, fielding one question after another. It may have been pure coincidence, but the backdrop could hardly have seemed more appropriate. Throughout the next few days, stories began to appear in the local media portraying Barnes as the next great Penn State defensive end. His teammates were even asked their opinion of his NFL future. Said Gress, ���That definitely could be in the cards. But it���s still a couple years away.��� (Or maybe it���s not; Barnes becomes drafteligible after the 2013 season.) In the face of all that publicity, Robert Barnes has tried to keep his son grounded. ���Don���t believe the hype and the press clippings,��� Robert has warned. The younger Barnes has taken those words to heart. While he admits to reading portions of the sports section, he said he tries to ignore the publicity, no matter how flattering it might be. ���It���s basically motivation for me,��� Barnes said. ���It lets me know that I can���t slack off at all. I have to be on top of my game, every game. If I had a couple bad games last year, people wouldn���t think much about it. But if I have a bad game this year, people will think, ���What happened to Deion? He���s not the same. Is this his sophomore slump?��� It makes me realize that I have to be on top of my game, every game.���

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