Erich Barnes

Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; His father, Sylvester, worked as a real estate investor; his mother, Lura, was a housewife. He registered 257 rushing yards on 62 carries, 319 yards on 20 receptions, 136 yards on seven kickoff returns, and 86 return yards off of his five interceptions during his time with the Boilermakers. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round (42nd overall selection) of the 1958 NFL draft. He was later traded to the New York Giants in 1961. He also earned NFL first-team honors that year. The Giants went on to face the Green Bay Packers in the 1962 NFL Championship Game, having lost 37–0 to the same team in the previous year's title game. They lost again to Lombardi's Packers on a fiercely windy and cold day in Yankee Stadium. Barnes set up the only scoring for the Giants when he blocked a punt recovered by teammate Jim Collier in the end zone in a 16–7 loss.

After the 1964 season, the Giants traded him to the Cleveland Browns – his favorite team as a child This trade further aggravated the demise of a once stellar Giants defense that had already lost standouts Sam Huff and Dick Modzelewski, who was also traded to the Browns and an integral component of their 1964 NFL championship team after the 1963 season. In 2012, the Cleveland Plain Dealers Mike Pettica ranked him as the No. 63 player in Browns' history (counting only what players did playing for Cleveland).

Barnes was elected to the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1986, and the Purdue University Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Later life After retiring from professional football in 1971, Barnes went on to work in the New York City area as a corporate special events planner.

Barnes died on April 29, 2022, at a hospital near Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, aged 86, following an unspecified lengthy illness.