THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260511
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
It's almost certain to happen sometime in Super Bowl XXIX Sunday.
San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice will shoot off the line of scrimmage on one of his famous pass routes. Someone from the San Diego Chargers defense - maybe linebacker Junior Seau, maybe cornerback Darrien Gordon, maybe safety Stanley Richard - will close to the ball and knock it to the turf.
On the Chargers bench, Johnnie Barnes will take a second to mentally pat himself on the back for a job well done.
Barnes, who starred at Suffolk's John F. Kennedy High, then Hampton University before joining the Chargers three years ago, has put the Chargers secondary on a Rice diet the last 10 days.
In practice, he plays the part of the 49ers All-Pro receiver, running the routes Rice runs, trying to make the catches he makes, doing whatever he can to prepare his teammates for football's greatest receiver ever.
``I'm The Man this week,'' he said Wednesday. ``We watch films of him all the time anyway, but I get a chance this week to do what he does - and that's be perfect. He doesn't have the best speed, but he can get open, and he's a big guy who can catch anything.''
Physically, Barnes comes close to matching Rice. At 6-foot-1, he's only an inch shorter. At 185 pounds, he's only 10 pounds lighter.
Where he has an advantage over Rice is speed. At Hampton, Barnes captured an NCAA Division II national championship in the 400 meters and earned a silver medal in that event in the 1990 Olympic Sports Festival. He has been known to run 40 yards 4.33 seconds.
That and the fact that he led the Pirates football team in catches and receiving yards for four consecutive seasons persuaded the Chargers to sign him as a free agent in 1992.
It has been a slow learning process for Barnes. He grabbed 10 passes in 1993, but just one pass this season despite playing in 15 regular season games.
He was declared inactive for both playoff games. He says it's possible he won't be in uniform Sunday, a move he accepts.
``This is for the team,'' he said. ``If they can put somebody in my spot who can help the team, I'm all for it.
``I get my reward in practice. When I beat our defensive backs deep or across the middle or make Junior Seau slip trying to cover me on a slant, I'm doing my job. When they shut down that play in the game, that's my gratification, because I ran it perfect and I made them better because of it.''
Just because he rarely plays - Barnes isn't on any of the Chargers special teams - doesn't mean he doesn't work hard. He rises at seven every morning, lifts weights and studies film of the upcoming opponent.
Practice starts at 10 and lasts a couple of hours, then there are meetings until 4:30 or 5, followed more film study at home after dinner.
``We've been at this for 27 weeks,'' Barnes says. ``And I feel like I've spent each one of those preparing for the Super Bowl.''
He said that with the convicition of a man who knew all along his team would make the Big Show. Which Barnes says he was.
``I told people back in August, `We're going to the Super Bowl,' and they looked back and said, `You got to be kidding.' I told my mom and dad they'd be in Miami the last weekend in January. They're coming down Sunday morning,'' he said.
``I just had a funny feeling about it, a gut feeling. It's not a big surprise to me. I knew it all along.''
He doesn't have a feel for who will win Sunday. But if it's Rice and the 49ers, it will be because Rice ran a route or did something the Chargers haven't seen before.
By game time, Johnnie Barnes plans to have shown them everything else. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press color photo
San Diego wide receiver Johnnie Barnes: ``I'm The Man (Jerry Rice)
this week.''
by CNB