Brand New Game
Ex-Coyote Barrett goes inside, adjusts to new position
By: Bob Davidson, Salina Journal

Barrett

Jerod Barrett is a football player. He's also a versatile and adaptable athlete.

Those traits together have helped him make the transition not only to the professional game, but to a new position in the professional game that is played inside on a turf field that's half the size he's used -- a field surrounded by a daunting and unyielding wall that hugs each sideline.

Barrett, a former running back and kick returner specialist at Kansas Wesleyan, is playing for the Wichita Aviators of the American Professional Football League. He rushed for 508 yards as the backup running back to Darrel Grames, who led the NAIA in rushing with 1,628 yards.

Grames replaced Barrett as KWU's starter in 2005 after Barrett rushed for 796 yards as the starter in 2004.

His collegiate career over, Barrett still wanted to play.

Barrett leaps over the pile on his way to scoring the game winning touchdown against Bethany on November 12 in Lindsborg

"I saw they were having tryouts on their Web site and came down to Wichita for two tryouts in January," Barrett said. "We ran a 40-yard dash, did some agility stuff, the standing long jump and scrimmaged some.

"A week after the second tryout, coach (Carl) Caldwell called me and told me I'd made the team."

Barrett was initially signed as a wide receiver, but primarily plays defensive back -- a position he hadn't played since his high school days at Chase County.

That's when his adaptability kicked in.

"I play cornerback and safety, so that was definitely a change," Barrett said. "Playing in an arena was a change anyway. You have to get used to the different motions along with playing on a smaller field."

Arena fields are half the size of a regular football field -- 50 yards long, 185 feet wide and 8-yard end zones.

"There's not as much room to play," Barrett said.

There are 16 men on the field instead of traditional 22 and there's the increased speed, size and strength of the players who are, after all, professionals.

But the biggest adjustment, according to Barrett, is the four-foot high padded wall that surrounds the field.

"It's pretty interesting and can be pretty brutal," Barrett said. "It's padded and you out bounce right off, but it's pretty hard. It adds some fan appeal to the game. It makes it more physical, but makes it more fun on the field.

"You always have to know where the wall's at."

For love of the game

Barrett has played in about half of the Aviators' games. He missed some games earlier in the season while making the adjustment from offense to defense.

"I'm not surprised he's made the transition to defense," Wesleyan coach Dave Dallas said. "He's a super athlete, he's smart and he's got some speed. We thought at one point, when he was a sophomore, about moving him to corner. We were real close to doing that.

"I think the transition to corner is easier than wide receiver. He uses his athleticism and speed and has a good sense of where make break, cut and those type of things."

Barrett isn't getting wealthy playing. He's paid $50 a game and receives a commission from ticket sales. The Aviators are averaging roughly 2,500 fans per game.

Wichita is 9-2 following its 41-27 victory over the Iowa Blackhawks in a game at the Wichita Ice Center, the Aviators' home arena that's located on Maple Street, across from Lawrence Dumont Stadium. Barrett didn't get in on defense, but did see action on kickoff returns.

The Aviators won their first seven games of the season, lost two and have won two in a row.

The season started April 7 and concludes with the postseason championship game July 29. The top three teams in the four-team APFL will participate in the playoffs. Those three teams will be the Aviators, Iowa and Kansas Coyotes, who are based in Topeka.

The fourth team is from Missouri; the season started with five teams, but the entry from Nebraska folded after three games.

Barrett is one of several former Kansas Conference players on the Aviators' roster. Other ex-KCAC players are Philip Baron and Peter Garibaldi from Bethel; Jess Langvardt of Sterling; Louis Schneider, Ziya Gunay and Ricky Gottschalk of McPherson; and six from Friends -- Robert Barley, Scott Robinson, Jackie Nash, Kelly Sayahncjad and quarterbacks John Wise and Matt Kelly.

Barrett has enjoyed his first season and would like to return.

"It's fun. I'll probably try to do it again next year," he said.