Hall of Fame
Barry played quarterback, wide receiver, and punter on RVC’s state junior college and N4C championship football team in 1978. He earned Offensive Team MVP honors, and was named to the 1978 NJCAA rst team All-American team as a punter after averaging 43.5 yards per punt. Barry was the rst RVC football player to be named rst team All-American, and that same year he was also named to the rst team All-State and All-Conference football teams.
After leaving RVC, Barry punted and held for extra points and eld goals at the University of Arizona of the then PAC-10 conference on a full athletic scholarship in 1979 and 1980. While at Arizona, he had the thrill of playing in the 1979 Fiesta Bowl on Christmas Day against the University of Pittsburgh and their freshman quarterback by the name of Dan Marino. That Pittsburgh team also featured Hugh Green and Ricky Jackson on defense, both of whom would later join Marino in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pittsburgh would come back the season after the 1979 Fiesta Bowl to win the college football national championship.
Barry’s best individual game performance at Arizona came in 1980 against the University of Iowa when he had four punts go out of bounds inside the 10-yard line, including two that went out of bounds at the 1-yard line, in a narrow 5-3 victory.
Barry has supported the Rockford community as a volunteer for Rockford Sharefest, Stroll on State, Rockford Rescue Mission, Junior Achievement, Special Olympics, USA Swimming, Guilford H.S Booster Club, and On-the- Waterfront. He has also served as a Boylan High School Alumni Association Board Member and as president of the Rockford Marlins Swim Club. Barry is currently very active at Heartland Community Church where he serves in several different ministries.
On his induction into the Rock Valley College Athletics Hall of Fame, Barry said, “I am humbled and extremely honored to have been chosen for this honor. I was nominated by Norm Matzl, a man whom I played for and learned so much from. He taught me about what it means to be an effective leader, a good teammate, and a person of character. I was blessed to have been surrounded by teammates who all strived to be their best and to work towards the achievement of a common goal. Most importantly, I was able to represent a tremendous institution for which I have great admiration and continue to be amazed at the positive things it does for our community.”
Barry has been married to his wife Diana for 32 years. They have one daughter, Stephanie, who lives in St. Louis with her husband, Brian.
