Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rodrigo Barnes passes away at 73

Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rodrigo Barnes passed away this week at the age of 73, according to reports.

A native of Waco, Texas, Barnes was a standout athlete at Carver High School. He went on to become one of the first four Black athletes that started the integration of the Rice University athletics program in 1968.

While at Rice, Barnes was as impactful off the field as he was on it. He earned All-Southwest Conference honors as the first black athlete to do so. He also started the school’s first Black Student Union.

Barnes advocated for the school and athletics program to hire more minority staff members and according to a Dallas Morning News feature, he acquired a “reputation for troublemaking” for his protests.

That reputation, whether warranted or not, played a role in his path to the NFL and his career in the league. He went in the seventh round of the 1973 draft to the Cowboys, but some speculate whether he would have gone higher in the draft if not for his outspoken nature and activism.

He played just one season for the Cowboys before a dispute over a knee injury and surgery resulted in his release. During his time with Dallas, Barnes was primarily a special teams contributor and he was a backup to Lee Roy Jordan. Barnes was just the second Black linebacker to play for the Cowboys.

“Yes, I was an activist,” Barnes told the DMN in their feature. “But I wasn’t trying to change the Cowboys, just how you treat people.”

After Dallas, Barnes played some in the WFL and the Patriots picked him up off of waivers. Prior to his retirement in 1977, he played for the Patriots, Dolphins, and Raiders, winning a Super Bowl with Oakland as a backup in 1976.

Barnes turned to educating following NFL career

Following retirement from the NFL, Barnes received his master’s degree in education from Prairie View A&M and successfully shifted his career into education. He last served as assistant principal at the Garland Alternative Education Center. In 2011, Rice inducted Barnes into the athletics Hall of Fame.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Barnes is survived by four children. His memorial service will be in Waco next month.