Road to 1991 Perfection: Entire Barry Family Shares in the National Title

Jay Barry and his brother Damon were teammates on the unbeaten team, and his twins have heard all the stories.

At the Barry household in Denver, the University of Washington football team's 1991 national championship remains very much a family affair.

Asked to meet virtually and replay that golden time, former Husky tailback Jay Barry showed up with his brother Damon, who was a UW wide receiver, and his twins Jay Jr. and Jiselle in tow.

They're all descendants of Odell Barry, a former Denver Broncos wide receiver and kick-turn specialist from the 1960s.

"It makes you very competitive forever, for business, for anything, and you need to be competitive," Jay said of being college football's best. "What Coach [Don] James taught us is it's more than just football, it's the game of life. How to be gentlemen. How to be able to get knocked down and get back up. When times are tough, never quit." 

This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national title run, supplementing the conversation for the recently completed pandemic-influenced season. We're now in the aftermath of the Huskies' 12-0 season in this throwback replay.

Today, Jay Barry is a successful Denver real-estate salesman and a developer, and he owns a construction company. 

His younger brother likewise has benefitted from his UW football experiences to excel in his hometown. He's a corporate attorney for a national law firm.

"Saying you're a national champion goes a long way in the business world," said Damon, a UW redshirt freshman in '91. "It's on my resume that I won a national championship. What it does is it's a conversational piece." 

Also sharing in this Husky pinnacle moment was Jiselle Barry, a high school senior, and displaying a '91 national title T-shirt.

Her brother, Jay Jr., is a talented high school wide receiver and defensive back for the class of 2021, as shown in this Denver TV interview.

This third-generation Barry wore a T-shirt commemorating the Huskies ending Miami's 58-game home winning streak, a 1994 game that involved his uncle but not his dad, who had long graduated.

He's made up his mind as to where he'd like to play his college football. It's not surprising.

"It's inspiring to hear how my dad and uncle were apart of this amazing season in '91," Jay Barry Jr. said. "I just want to carry on the legacy and make it memorable at Washington."

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