UPDATED (12/6) Barker to Houston will play for former Gopher Tony Levine

Donate To GopherHole

According to Marcus Fuller, Barker's brother says he will transfer to Houston.
 


Unfortunately it looks like we won't get to squash him. Conference-USA, big stage there Barker.
 



Plinnius said:
Big East.
Click to expand...
Oops, forgot they're moving next year. Still no bowl ties between Big 10 and Big East. Dangit. Was hoping for a bowl matchup next year. Sarcasm associated with big stage of Conference-USA also applies to Big East.
 


After that falling out, the family still can't phrase things with PR in mind.
"He's super excited now that he has a coach that truly believes he's the real deal," said Ross, a former Wisconsin walk-on receiver. "He's gonna do great. I'm excited for him. It's a great opportunity."
Click to expand...

We get it, none of the Barkers agreed with the coach.
 

For a guy who couldn't catch the ball until his Jr. year he sure gets a lot of ink.
 






I'm glad he is playing for a team that isn't on our schedule and isn't anywhere close to us geographically. Thankfully, with the exception of Sid and Shooter, we can avoid almost all AJ Barker info. Anyone who has any ties to the State of MN gets attention ad naseum by Shooter (see Jack Hannahan), so I imagine he'll occasionally bring up Houston football and AJ Barker.

This guy got enough attention for all of the wrong things over the week of Thanksgiving. Despite him being a good receiver, after seeing his true colors, I'm glad he's in Houston, I'm glad he never got a scholarship and I hope I never have to hear a 21 year old man describe to the world what his mom's best friend thinks of him.

Goodbye AJ Barker. I hope it works out well for you. For the off chance that you check this forum (I'm sure you do), you aren't going to be able to pull your nonsense with Tony Levine. I hope you've grown up.
 



Benadryl Brownies said:
Since he will be in Houston, do you think he will attend the bowl game on the 28th?
Click to expand...

I'm sure he is going to be presenting at some symposium for athletic trainers. He has detailed out a pretty comprehensive survey on the dangers of icing a sprained ankle.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm glad he is playing for a team that isn't on our schedule and isn't anywhere close to us geographically. Thankfully, with the exception of Sid and Shooter, we can avoid almost all AJ Barker info. Anyone who has any ties to the State of MN gets attention ad naseum by Shooter (see Jack Hannahan), so I imagine he'll occasionally bring up Houston football and AJ Barker..
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm very curious as to how this went down. I know that Houston can't comment officially until February. At that time, I would love to know how all of this came about. Did Levine have any prior connection with the Barker family? Did Levine think he's giving a fellow St. Paulite a second chance? Did Levine chat with Coach Kill, and if so, did Jerry recommend A.J.? Or, was it as simple as Houston needs a wideout, and A.J. proved enough in Big 10 play to merit a scholarship.

Make no mistake. I've heard enough from Barker. I'm interested in Levine's perspective. I always had a soft spot for Tony, and one day hoped he'd return in some capacity to the U of M. This move is a bit puzzling, so I'd like to hear his reasoning. Easy for all of us to say to not touch the kid with a 10 foot pole.
 

AJ Barker, your 5 minutes of fame have run out. Make sure you take your own doctors and trainers with you (and Mommy & Daddy, and Mommy's friend, too).
 

AJB will probably spend his earning yrs here in the cities and contribute prosfessionally and financially to the community.
I predicted he would land within 2 weeks and nailed it. the kid is too smart to blow his stack without a plan but it isn't in Kill's best interest to follow up.
 

There's no question that AJ is a talented pass catcher. It's just too bad he turned out to be such a prima donna. Hopefully he can control that tendency and finish out his career well.
 

CWCWCW said:
Actually, I'm very curious as to how this went down. I know that Houston can't comment officially until February. At that time, I would love to know how all of this came about. Did Levine have any prior connection with the Barker family? Did Levine think he's giving a fellow St. Paulite a second chance? Did Levine chat with Coach Kill, and if so, did Jerry recommend A.J.? Or, was it as simple as Houston needs a wideout, and A.J. proved enough in Big 10 play to merit a scholarship.

Make no mistake. I've heard enough from Barker. I'm interested in Levine's perspective. I always had a soft spot for Tony, and one day hoped he'd return in some capacity to the U of M. This move is a bit puzzling, so I'd like to hear his reasoning. Easy for all of us to say to not touch the kid with a 10 foot pole.
Click to expand...

I agree, it would be interesting to know how this went down. Many alums were not happy with AJ. Wonder if it can be smoothed over. Wonder if it affects Levine's rep with the U or alums.
 


wait!what? said:
AJB will probably spend his earning yrs here in the cities and contribute prosfessionally and financially to the community.
I predicted he would land within 2 weeks and nailed it. the kid is too smart to blow his stack without a plan but it isn't in Kill's best interest to follow up.
Click to expand...

Really? I guess your definition and my definition of smart is quite different. The kid clearly has a very low EQ (Emotional Quotient) and thus his immaturity was played out for all us of to see.
 

He'll get to play in the Big East and most likely, all home games at Reliant Stadium since their own stadium is being rebuilt.

Playing in front of 27,000 fans in a 71,000 seat stadium is just the big stage he craves.
 

@GopherHole: Nope, don't remember him. RT @BTNTomDienhart: Remember A.J. Barker? The #Gophers WR who inked a 4,000-word diatribe? He landed at Houston

Go Gophers!!
 

wait!what? said:
AJB will probably spend his earning yrs here in the cities and contribute prosfessionally and financially to the community.
I predicted he would land within 2 weeks and nailed it. the kid is too smart to blow his stack without a plan but it isn't in Kill's best interest to follow up.
Click to expand...

Sorry wait,what?, but few people have room in their organization for someone that doesn't respect authority. Perhaps he'll take this as a life lesson, but it seems to be a re-occuring issue with him. No matter how intelligent or gregarious he is, he's caustic and I wouldn't consider him for any position in my organization.

AJ who?
 

wait!what? said:
AJB will probably spend his earning yrs here in the cities and contribute prosfessionally and financially to the community.
I predicted he would land within 2 weeks and nailed it. the kid is too smart to blow his stack without a plan but it isn't in Kill's best interest to follow up.
Click to expand...

your moniker is perfect here.

Wait! WHAT???

The kid is a punk, and not a smart one. He played his cards at the wrong time, in the wrong way, to the wrong people. All because he thinks he's smarter than coaches, team doctors, and trainers. He's got issues, anyone who read his 4000 word whinefest can see that.
I hope he never catches another ball ever again and ends up staying down in texas so we never have to hear his name again.
 

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't get the "entitled" tag that gets placed on Barker. Yeah, the 4000-word diatribe was totally off the wall and uncalled for, but he came to the U as a walk-on and worked for four years trying to get a scholarship. He proved he could play in major college football (which apparently no one thought he could do) and was disappointed with how things turned out.

Yeah, he didn't handle the injury correctly. Yeah, he didn't get along with his position coaches. That may spell "punk," but I don't think that translates to him feeling entitled. He felt he earned something and that's different from believing he should have been given something simply because of who he is. Everything he did leading up to his unfortunate end at the U spells the opposite of entitled, at least to me. Granted, I may be playing with the language here and I certainly don't condone how he chose to leave the program.

I say good luck to him in Houston and I'm sorry that it didn't work out for him here. He's replaceable, but he did play well.
 

I figure he is 21. he made a mistake and tho a leopard can't change his spots...he'll learn from this. for anyone who has been 21, mistakes come easy and often. we are rougher on this kid than the Mason 5ex assault kids.
 

Enough A.J. Parker Puke.

He has moved on, can we? Stop the god damned stabbing in the back of a wannabe. HE GONE!!!
 

He'll make some noise in their offense. Our loss on the field, but he burned his bridges here.
 

I think he'll refuse to go away. Any time he accomplishes something, he will remind everyone of it. Example: his latest Twitter exchanges.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom