The seconds, minutes, hours and days blend together. His alarm clock is sometimes a metal window frame on a bus, when it rattles his head after it goes over a street bump. But the long days all have a purpose for Deion Barnes. Getting up each morning at 5:30 and taking the two-hour long road trip by public transportation to Northeast High School in Philadelphia means light years from where he is and where he’s headed.
And where the 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior is headed is any number of high-level football schools. His stature is growing, and it looks as if this summer his status will grow only more. Offers for the speedy, explosive defensive end have come already from Penn State, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Pittsburgh. Expect that impressive list to grow more.
He transformed from a skinny curiosity as a freshman to a beast his junior year for the Vikings when he garnered eight sacks and a total of 70 tackles, 20 for over minus-100 yards in losses. That’s not what’s most impressive about Barnes. He found out early what kind of talent he has and is part of the special magnet program in the Philadelphia School District that enables gifted students to attend schools outside their areas.
Barnes would have attended Simon Gratz, the home of Rasheed Wallace, though it’s also a school wedged in the middle of a troubled North Philly neighborhood, where young people can sometimes fall victim to the streets.
"That’s not going to happen to me," said Barnes, who has had friends shot and killed. "In my mind, when I was younger, I wanted to go to Gratz, but as I got older, I knew I wanted to make a sacrifice; I had to do this. I had to make this move. I always dreamed about something larger, something better. People I’ve known tried to pressure me into stuff. I always tell them I have something else to do, when I know it can lead to trouble or there could be some problems.
"When I was younger, I used to do stupid things and the older heads in the neighborhood would tell me I’m going somewhere and don’t be stupid. It didn’t take me much time to listen. I realize I was made to play football and that I have to stay focused on a positive direction."
So each morning, Barnes will climb out of bed at about 5:30 and get home roughly around 4 or 5 p.m. each evening. During football season, his schedule becomes that much more demanding, taking the subway and buses to Northeast, a higher-level academic school in the less dangerous environs of Northeast Philadelphia. He doesn’t get home until 8 p.m.
Much of that time is filled sleeping on the bus and subways, trying to play the endless, losing game of catching up to lost sleep. Sure, Barnes could have taken an easier route, could have gone to a closer school. But Barnes didn’t want to take that option, not if he wanted to be challenged academically at Northeast and play a higher level of football.
"I have to do it," Barnes said. "I love the game. It’s what keeps me going. I got that love from my father, who is a football freak. He introduced me to the game when I was 4 years old, when I had some anger issues. Playing football was stress-relieving. I learned to control my anger and started to think more about what I was doing on the football field."
What he has done is make himself one of the most attractive football recruits in Southeastern Pennsylvania, along with Penn Wood’s 6-9, 260-pound junior defensive end Shawn Oakman, who’s also getting serious Division I interest. Barnes’ game is speed, and if he has a problem, it’s a good one.
"Deion is probably the only player I ever had to tell in 20 years of coaching that he just has to go after the quarterback and just make plays, just go out and play," Northeast coach Chris Riley said. "But Deion is special, very special. He thinks and breaks things down like no other high school player you’ll come across. He works exceptionally hard, and is very, very serious about the game."
Barnes is looking to extricate himself from dragging the rare bad play back to the huddle with him. There are a ton of miscues that can come with playing defensive end on a football field — thinking too much can be one of them.
"I think that comes if I get beat on one play, and I might think about it too much and hesitate on the next play, I analyze," Barnes said. "That’s going to stop. The mindset my senior year is, get quarterback. As a defensive end, you get blamed for a lot of stuff. Anything on my side, I’m expected to have, and I have to stop it, or I get yelled at."
Barnes has a big summer ahead of him. He has the Nike Camp next month at Penn State, and FBU Camp, held in Philadelphia, in June. He watched the NFL Draft last week, and visions of being there one day in the future went dancing in his head.
"Yeah, I can see that, I can see myself there," Barnes said. "I saw Gerald McCoy go with the third pick (overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and saw how emotional he got. I know that will be me when I get there. I know it."
All he needs to do is remember those long bus rides and the times he dowsed on the subway. Barnes’ ride is still going. His next big stop looks like February 2011, when he said he’ll probably commit to a school.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
