University of Minnesota Athletics
Dominique Barber Selected by Houston in NFL Draft
4/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The University of Minnesota has sent another Barber to an NFL franchise in Texas.
Safety Dominique Barber, Minnesota’s leading tackler in 2007 and a unanimous second team All-Big Ten selection by the league’s coaches and media last season, became the 18th Golden Gopher selected in the NFL Draft since 2000 when he was taken with the seventh pick of the sixth round by the Houston Texans Sunday.
He joins his brother, Marion Barber III, a 2005 draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys and one of the NFL’s top running backs, as the second Gopher to be selected by an NFL franchise from Texas in the last four years.
Dominique also becomes the third Barber to join the NFL via the University of Minnesota. His father, Marion Jr., a three-year letterwinner for the Gophers (1979-81), was selected in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft with the 30th overall selection of the New York Jets.
The 173rd overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft, Barber’s selection marks the ninth straight season that at least one Golden Gopher has heard his name called during the Draft.
Barber is the first Golden Gopher defensive back to be drafted since cornerback Michael Lehan was picked in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns in the 2005 Draft. He is also the first Gopher to be selected by the Texans since defensive end Greg White was taken in the seventh round of the 2002 Draft.
Barber turned in an incredible season as a senior in 2007, collecting a team-leading 100 total tackles to rank ninth in the Big Ten in stops during the regular season.
The first Minnesota safety to earn all-league accolades since Jack Brewer was named to the media’s first team in 2001, Barber led or tied for the team lead in tackles in four of 12 games last season and finished with double-figure stops four times. Barber also recovered three fumbles, including one he returned for a 46-yard touchdown at Michigan, had eight pass break-ups and forced a fumble last year.
It was the second consecutive strong season turned in by Barber, who was credited with 174 of his 191 career stops as a junior and senior.
The 2006 season proved to be a break-through campaign for Barber. He totaled 74 tackles and four interceptions in 13 games and ranked fifth in the Big Ten with four interceptions and a junior en route to honorable mention all-conference honors.
