Oh no!

Not Barry!

JS Online: Barry will have surgery

Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Kevin Barry has suffered a tear in his left quadriceps that will require surgery and might cost him the entire 2006 season, coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday morning.

Way back in 1997, I was an intern at the Racine Journal Times. My very first assignment was to cover the Racine Shriner's 21st annual football banquet, where they were honoring two local football players who had been selected to play in the North-South Shrine Bowl.

Kevin Barry was one of them.

I remember him being big, quiet, and shy. The other guy (Cory Ellis was his name) talked a lot more.

Barry was on his way to Hutchinson Community College, in Kansas. We all know now he ended up at Arizona (or was it Arizona State?), and then with the Packers.

Anyway, that's why I've been rooting for him to earn a starting place, and then a Pro-Bowl selection. My little claim to fame.

I wonder if he remembers that? He wouldn't remember me, specifically, but he may remember the event, and the reporter.

Speedy recovery, I hope, and a long career.