Jets? Barrett Learns Years Later About Loss of Mother By KAREN CROUSE Published: September 30, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Sept. 28 ? An N.F.L. defensive back would never make a play if he always tripped over the memory of being burned on a touchdown pass. Jets cornerback David Barrett had no way of knowing it at the time, but his childhood provided a study in revising the past to avoid becoming haunted by it. His two older sisters were the last line of defense in shielding Barrett from the truth about their mother, Willie Ann Rucker. They became so adept over the years at redirecting his questions that it was not until Barrett was on his way to the N.F.L. that he learned she had not died in a car accident when he was a year old, as he had been led to believe. In a telephone interview, Barrett?s oldest sister, Kim Moss, recounted how Rucker left her three children with a baby sitter at home in Waterloo, Iowa, one day in 1979, and never returned. Twenty-eight years later, she is presumed dead, but the case remains unsolved. ?We?ve had private investigators work on the case,? Moss, who was 10 at the time of her mother?s disappearance, said. ?We think it was an ex-boyfriend who killed her, but we?ve never been able to prove it.? Barrett, who leads the Jets in solo tackles through three games with 22, knew none of this until he attended a family reunion on his mother?s side after his senior year at Arkansas in 2000. An uncle let the truth slip out. ?It was a shocker,? Barrett said. ?I had gone all my life trying to figure out what actually happened. Every time I?d ask somebody, they?d be like: ?Go ask him. Go ask her.? They kept pushing it around.? Barrett, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2000, does not share the unshakable conviction of Moss and his other sister, Deena Rucker, that their mother is dead. In his eight years in the league ? including the past three-plus with the Jets ? he has traveled all over the country for games, and in every city he has entertained the fantasy that his mother may miraculously appear. ?I see people with her last name, and I wonder if they are any kin to me, any relation,? Barrett said. ?Because who?s to say that she?s not still out there living her life and not knowing what?s going on?? He added: ?It?s kind of that taboo subject in the family. Everybody?s very touchy and emotional when you bring it up.? When their mother didn?t come home, Barrett and his sisters were taken in by their maternal grandparents, who were nearly done raising the last of their nine children. When Barrett was in the ninth grade, he moved to Arkansas to live with Moss, who had just completed her undergraduate degree in accounting at Henderson State. Moss became his legal guardian, assuming the responsibility that had been abdicated by Barrett?s father, who lived in Iowa but saw his son so rarely that Barrett said he could count the number of visits on one hand. At Osceola High School in Arkansas, Barrett crossed paths with the football coach, Clinton Gore, who became the nearest thing he had to a male mentor. From the start, Gore saw promise in Barrett, who was fast enough to star on the track team and tough enough to absorb ? and inflict ? punishment on the football field. ?We have two or three tapes of him that we still show our players,? Gore said by telephone. ?One is of him hitting a guy and knocking him 5 yards out of bounds.? Barrett lettered in track and baseball in high school, but football was his favorite sport. ?I liked it because it was O.K. to hit someone,? he said, laughing, ?which was good if you had a lot of tension in you that you needed to get out of your system.? At the N.F.L. rookie symposium the year he was drafted, Barrett filled out a form that contained the question, If something happened to you, to whom would you turn? Barrett wrote Moss?s name. His affection for his sisters is as plain as his smile when he talks about them. It is a smile, Moss said, that Barrett inherited from their mother. Rucker?s smile, the smell of her perfume, the sound of her laugh; these are precious details that are lost to Barrett, who was too young to have any recollection of her. Moss has told Barrett that he was the apple of their mother?s eye. Barrett wishes he didn?t have to take her word for it. ?I always felt that not having a mom was a big factor in my life,? he said. ?I missed never having that person you can come home to and call Mom who will put her arms around you and tell you she loves you.? Barrett, who will turn 30 in December, is nearly two years older than Rucker was when she disappeared. ?I think about that all the time,? he said. He has a recurring dream in which he stalks whoever is responsible for his mother?s disappearance and drives that person six feet under. ?Many a time that?s ran through my head,? Barrett said. ?But that?s not going to solve anything by going through life trying to get payback on someone.? To know Barrett?s back story is to understand his equanimity in the face of a scratched cornea that sidelined him for three games in 2005 and a sports hernia that plagued him throughout the 2006 season. ?After what our family?s been through, it?s kind of like what my sister says: ?Everything else is all in a day?s work,?? Barrett said, adding, ?I always look at it like this: I?m blessed to be alive.? The Jets drafted Darrelle Revis in the first round this year, presumably to take Barrett?s place, but Barrett had other plans. In the Jets? win against Miami last Sunday, he was named the team?s defensive player of the week after registering eight tackles. Moss, who talks to her brother regularly, did not know about the honor until she read about it on the Jets? Web site. Barrett would sooner hide than hype himself, perhaps because he realizes no amount of attention can fill the hole created when his mother went missing.
Great article; great job by Karen Crouse. Cimini could only dream of writing an article this illuminating and moving. TBTF
This article, and the Jets beat and its future, has been discussed over on another message board. Crouse in a great writer - a takeout, featurey writer who's moving on to a GA, feature or possible PGA beat in the future. Greg Bishop, previously of the Seattle Times, will man the Jets beat in 2008 and beyond. Cimini is catering to a different Jets fan. More of the hard hats than what Crouse strives for in her weekly scopes inside the lives of our beloved Jets players. I'm personally glad we have/had her, and I here Bishop is great reporter as well.
Great article, personally I have always not been too happy with Barrett and kind of wondered why he was on the team. This article changes my opinion of him completely. He's been through a lot and still manages to play football through it all, even believing a false reality that his mother was still alive. Barrett may blow coverages, play too far off the receiver and play down right horrible at times, but he needs to step it up this week. He's gotten this all off his chest and should feel relieved. He shouldn't have to hard of a time against buffalo with out there starting QB there (even though he's a complete scrub)!! :drunk: :drunk: :buffaloblows::gpc: (i wish)
Another Barrett Story...Jets' Barrett bouncing back after injury-plagued seasons To all those peeps that said Barrett would be gone By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer September 28, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- David Barrett tried to forget the injuries that nagged him. The results on the field were constant reminders. The New York Jets cornerback struggled the past two seasons to be the player he once was, and opposing offenses noticed. Barrett was often a target of quarterbacks and injuries prevented him from performing up to his own standards. "It was tough," Barrett said Friday. "In your mind, you know you're not 100 percent, but no one else knows that, though. You've got to go out there and perform like you're 100 percent and for me, that was kind of a tough thing for me to do, but I got through it." Finally healthy, Barrett has been mostly solid in his first three games. In his eighth NFL season, and fourth with the Jets, he leads the team with 24 tackles -- 22 solo -- while starting at right cornerback. "It's more me wanting to prove to myself that last year, I did pretty good, but this year I'm 100 percent and I can get the job done even better this year," he said. Midway through the 2005 season, Barrett suffered a cut in one of his eyes when he was poked during a game against San Diego. The injury sidelined him for three games and still bothered him when he returned. He finished with 54 tackles and a career-high five interceptions, but looked forward to healing in the offseason. Then, Barrett injured his hip early last season and was inactive for three games. He lost his hold on the starting job at right cornerback and finished with 36 tackles, his lowest total since his rookie season with Arizona in 2000. "David's a very consistent person and player," coach Eric Mangini said. "His situation has been not as consistent going through the injury. That changed some things, but I like his approach and I liked David when he was in college. He's been the same guy throughout the course of his career." Mangini showed confidence in the veteran when he started him in the season finale against Oakland and again in the playoff game at New England. "It was just me being the type of person I am," said Barrett, one of the quietest guys in the Jets' locker room. "For me, whether you're hurt or not, you've got to go out there and do your job. That's how I felt about the situation. Whether I was hurt or not, I've still got to go out to perform." There were some doubts early in training camp whether that would be with the Jets. Trade rumors began after New York drafted Darrelle Revis in the first round. The move was thought to be a chance for the Jets to upgrade their secondary -- and the 29-year-old Barrett appeared to be the odd-man out. "I always look at it like this: No one's position in this league is ever pretty much secure," he said. "You've always got to go out there and perform in order to get their attention and their approval to be out there on the field." Veteran Andre Dyson started every game at left cornerback last season until he was injured in Week 15, but the right side was a different story. Barrett, Justin Miller, Hank Poteat and rookie Drew Coleman all took turns in the starting lineup. Some fans wondered if Barrett had lost a step and figured he'd be a backup, at best. "The fans are going to be fans. They're going to be crazy no matter what," Barrett said with a laugh. "It doesn't matter if you're doing good or if you're doing bad, they're still going to let you know out there. You've got to take the good with the bad, like I always say. You'll always get some bad words out there. You've just got to take it and overcome it and go out there and play." Revis has been everything the Jets expected while starting at left cornerback. Meanwhile, Barrett has reclaimed his spot in the right side. He has been tested by teams -- a lot more than Revis -- and has done enough to remain in the starting lineup. "This has been good, man," Barrett said. "It's a learning experience. You go out there and you know you're going to have some bad plays and you know you're going to have some great plays. You just have to go out there and have a positive attitude."
No player is going to be great on every down, there has been a improvement in barret each week, and hopefully he can continue along that path. Great article (s) and i really liked the difference of the article, it was very moving. Barret is not the problem with this defense as it is, lets hope for a big game from him today, and i will be rooting for him especially right through.
Barrett is a pretty good 2nd CB. He has issues against fast receivers and tall big ones. I have no problem with him as our second CB except against teams like the Colts and Patriots. Of course that's a pretty big caveat for a Jets CB.
not to sound heartless, but it's articles just like this that compel fans to form attachments to players who underperform. i can see it happening already in this thread. i don't mind Barrett as a backup, but i don't feel he should start on the left, right, or Nickle. in fact, i hope next season he's not on the team. i feel for the guy and what he's been through as a person, but that doesn't change the fact that we can have a better CB than him.
Sorry i dont feel bad for you. You still suck and you still need to be traded for a sack of potatoes..
Unfortunatley its that kind of attitude which turns up to 'support' the team and gets on players backs which in turn cause them into pressured mistakes. Hes one of the more commited CBs we have , nothing to do with him being the best or anything else. Whilst hes a Jet and a starter I'll continue to support him , geez some of you are SO fickle. We all want a Superbowl bound team and its abundantley clear that '07 is not going to be that year , again.
Hes doing his job as best as he can , if Sutton or mangini think someone else is better they will put them in , who would you put in there then?
