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It would be unfair to call William "Redfish" Barger, a four year letterman for the University of Alabama during the early 1990's, a recruiting bust. Yet would it be safe to say that Barger is overly charitable when self-assessing his importance to the Tide during his tenure at the Capstone? A very well-placed source familiar with that era of Alabama football recalls that William "Redfish" Barger was a player that never reached his expected potential. Was Barger ever in the starting rotation for any significant amount of time during his college football career? And if so, how valuable were his contributions to the team? You be the judge.Bio of "Redfish" from Huntsville's 97.7 "The Zone:
"http://www.977thezone.com/
William Barger, aka Redfish was a USA Today All-American, Super Prep All-American and was named To
m Lemming's Top 100 Players in the country. William signed with The University of Alabama and was on the 2 SEC Championship teams and the 1992 National Championship Team, where he was named ALL-SEC by the Sporting News. William has been a guest on numerous radio stations and internet sites over the years discussing NCAA, coaching changes in the SEC, and providing regular insight and evaluations. When not keeping up with SEC football, its a safe bet you can find William on the gulf coast chasing redfish.
Barger was one of the the most coveted lineman in the state his senior year. Barger was in fact a first-team consensus All-State selection coming out of John Carroll High School in the late 1980's:
http://www.ahsfhs.org/teams2/allstate.asp?Team=John%20Carroll
Indeed, Bill Curry, stated at the time that Barger had the potential to compare to the great UA offensive linemen of yore, such as John Hand. UA was any early favorite for Barger, so it came as no surprise when he ultimately signed with the Tide. Yet how many legitimate college All-Americans feature their high school playing days so prominently? Compare Barger's bio with that of Jay Barker, Barger's former team-mate and likewise a sports-radio host:
Hewitt-Trussville High School – Class of 1990, University of Alabama – 1990-1994, 1992 National Champion,1992 SEC Champion,3-time SEC West Champion, 1994 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Winner, 1994 1st Team All-SEC and All-American, 1994 Heisman Trophy Finalist (5th) All-time winningest quarterback (35-2-1) Green Bay Packers – 1995 (5th Round Draft Pick)
Barker, like Barger, was a highly sought after recruit coming out of Hewitt-Trusville. Yet other than noting he was a 1990 graduate of the school, Barker makes no mention of his high school playing days.
An alphabetical listing of football All-America from "rolltide.com," the official UA website makes no mention of Barger:
http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121202aae.html
According to a Sports Illustrated commemerative edition celebrating UA's 1992 MNC, this was the starting line-up for the 1993 Sugar Bowl:
OFFENSE QB: #7 Jay Barker RB: #25 Derrick Lassic FB: #35 Martin Houston WR: #32 Prince Wimbley/#37 Kevin Lee WR: #2 David PalmerTE: #83 Steve BuskyOT: #63 Michael Hammond OG: #68 George Wilson C: #61 Tobie Shiels OG: #69 Jon Stevenson OT: #77 Roosevelt Patterson
DEFENSE DE: #94 John Copeland NT: #76 Everett Brown DE: #80 Eric Curry LB: #11 Lemanski HallLB: #52 Michael RogersLB: #56 Derrick Oden LB: #55 Antonio London CB: #13 George Teague CB: #43 Antonio Langham SS: #31 Sam Shade FS: #21 Chris Donnelly
SPECIAL TEAMS K #3 Michael Proctor P: #12 Brian Diehl KR: #2 David Palmer/#33 Chris Anderson/#20 Sherman Williams.
William "Redfish" Barger, a legend in his own mind.
....five easy pieces.
