Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Jay Barker

He was 10 years old and had it all worked out: go to Alabama and play for Paul W. “Bear” Bryant.

When Jay Barker’s father, Jerome, asked him how success happens, he said, “It isn’t so much the will to win but the will to prepare to win.”

“In a way it was kind of shocking to some degree,” Jerome Barker told The New York Times in 1994. “I had always heard in the business world, or athletics, about the will to win.

“I thought to myself, ‘This kid has got it together.’”

Although Jay Barker didn’t play for Bryant, he did make it to the Capstone despite not playing quarterback until his senior year at Hewitt-Trussville High School. At Alabama he compiled an amazing record of 35–2–1 as a starter.

(Note: Alabama was later forced to forfeit all its regular-season wins from 1993 due to an ineligible player, but Barker is still listed among the program's all-time leaders among the winningest quarterbacks).

Name	Years	Record	Percentage
Jake Coker	2014-15	14-0	1.000
Jay Barker	1991-94	35-2-1	.934
Jalen Hurts	2016-18	26-2-0	.929
Tua Tagovailoa	2018-19	22-2-0	.917
AJ McCarron	2010-13	36-4-0	.900
Dixie Howell	1932-34	22-2-1	.900
Greg McElroy	2007-10	24-3-0	.888
Joe Namath	1962-64	21-3-0	.875
Terry Davis	1971-72	21-3-0	.875
Pat Trammell	1959-61	26-2-4	.875
Jeff Rutledge	1976-78	33-5-0	.868
Harry Gilmer	1944-47	30-9-2	.756
Mike Shula	1984-86	22-8-1	.721

The first loss came his junior year to Auburn, when Barker had to leave the game with torn ligaments in his left knee that required surgery. The other came in the SEC Championship Game his senior year, when Alabama was edged by Florida, 24–23.

But Barker’s long list of accomplishments started well before then.

As a freshman he stepped in when Danny Woodson was suspended for violating team rules and led a 20–17 victory at LSU followed by a tight 13–6 win against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. After defeating reigning national champion Colorado in the Blockbuster Bowl, 30–25, Alabama finished the season 11–1.

As a sophomore, Barker helped lead Alabama to the national championship, but 267 rushing yards against Miami in the Sugar Bowl, the Tide never even bothered to establish its passing game, with Barker completing just four passes for a paltry 18 yards.

“He’s a totally unselfish player,” Coach Gene Stallings once said of Barker. “He’s not in it for the credit. He’s in it because he loves to play and compete. I love Jay Barker. He knows that. I love what he stands for.”

Despite a bad shoulder, Barker completed an undefeated regular season as a senior, including close victories against Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Auburn. He closed his career with a touchdown pass to running back Sherman Williams as Alabama defeated talent-laden Ohio State 24–17 in the Florida Citrus Bowl, and was the recipient of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Even though he didn’t put up gaudy single-game passing numbers, Barker set Alabama records for passing yards (5,689), completions (402), and attempts (706).

“For me, just to put on the jersey was a dream come true,” Barker said. “Then to finally play, and then to start, all these things seem little to a lot of these guys out here, where they don’t grow up around it or are from another state, or maybe they would have played anywhere they wanted. I think I appreciated those little things, and when these big things came along, oh, man. This is unreal to me.”

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books

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