Football is family for the Barnes brothers
Many athletes commonly refer to their teammates as their family — or their brothers. That statement should rarely be taken literally, as they are typically just referring to the familial sentiment playing a sport together creates.
But for Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes, his teammates are his family — literally.
Blake Barnes, Bryson’s younger brother, is an inside linebacker for the Aggies now in his second season in Logan after redshirting his first year. Bryson is also in his second season playing for Utah State after he transferred from Utah last year, a decision that had an impact on both the Barnes boys.
“The biggest thing for me was Bryson,” Blake told The Utah Statesman on his decision to come to Utah State. “He was the one that believed in me from the beginning — a lot more than I believed in myself.”
Though Bryson was an instrumental influence in Blake coming to USU, their relationship was not always that way.
As two young, competitive brothers tend to do, Blake and Bryson had their fair share of fights and competitions growing up.
© Dane Johnson #16 quarterback for USU Bryson Barnes smiles as he enters the end zone to score a touchdown for USU as they play McNeese State at Maverik Stadium on Sept 20. (Dane Johnson/The Utah Statesman)
“They butted heads a lot because Bryson was so serious and dialed in, and it was, ‘You’re going to do what I want to do.’ And it was all athletics,” said Chris Barnes, Blake and Bryson’s father, in an interview with the Statesman. “When he started to mature and he started pushing back, yeah, there were some headbutts. There were some pretty good wrestling matches. There were some fists thrown.”
Earlier this year, Blake had surgery to repair a deviated septum he’s convinced Bryson caused growing up.
“I think that’s pretty accurate,” Chris said with a chuckle.
As two now older brothers tend to do, they have matured and grown up since their young fighting days, and their relationship has grown along with it.
© Dane Johnson USU #16 Bryson Barnes looks around at his team while USU plays McNeese State at Maverik Stadium on Sept 20. (Dane Johnson/The Utah Statesman)
When Bryson graduated and moved up to join the Utes, Blake was at home in the early stages of a prolific high school football career. Even with Bryson now away from home, his influence was still felt, though in a different way than before.
“I remember Bryson watching his college game film, taking care of his stuff, but he would also be watching Blake’s high school film,” said Stacy Barnes, Blake and Bryson’s mother, in an interview with the Statesman. “They would talk about it after the games, telling [Blake] things to look for.”
Now that Blake has joined Bryson as a teammate, that mentor role is even more prevalent.
“You come to college, you don’t really have this mental fortitude or this mental strength or belief in yourself when you get up to college,” Bryson said. “You have to find that in yourself. And so, the lessons that I’ve learned — I’m able to teach him along with it.”
In addition to leading Blake in the ways of being a collegiate athlete in general, Bryson has been able to help Blake learn the ropes of the Utah State system. Bryson has also continued to instill his distinct work ethic into his younger brother.
This was especially prevalent this spring as the two worked out together throughout the month of May. May is typically the month without mandatory team workouts where players can either workout on their own or take some time off. The Barnes brothers did anything but take time off.
Their day started with breakfast at 6:30 every morning before grueling workouts from 7–12.
“There was a switch, and I was still in the high school mode, like, ‘I don’t know if I want to get up at 6:30 every morning,’” Blake said. “But then you accept that wow, this is — it’s special … It was really special, just because there’s a point in time where this isn’t going to happen again.”
Their workouts and time spent together over the offseason influenced the brothers in a way that was noticeable to more than just themselves.
“It rolled them right together,” Chris said. “Now they’re both mature, grown men, and they were just their best friends.”
“It was fun to get the calls with them going swimming together and just working out together like that,” Stacy agreed. “It was sweet to see that happen again when it came home.”
As the offseason continued, team workouts resumed, and the brothers returned to their team and position group workouts. They continued to prepare for the season, Bryson looking toward being the top starter for the first time in his career and Blake hoping to make a difference on a revamped defense.
All was going well until Blake suffered a season-ending injury as he tore his ACL in early July while setting a personal best on a power clean lift.
After Blake tore his ACL, Stacy came to Logan to help him prepare for and receive surgery and get set up afterwards. Although Bryson couldn’t help him as much as fall camp was right around the corner, he still made sure to help where he could.
“[Blake] was thinking ‘I’m going to be right back,’ but to realize ‘I’m going to learn the game from sitting and watching things, and learning that way instead of being in it,’ I think that helped his perspective,” Stacy said. “Bryson helped with that, ‘Do what you can do. You obviously can’t practice physically, but practice mentally the game.’ I saw that with Bryson that week when I was up here with him. Bryson was just taking care of, in that regard, just always leading.”
Though the injury was difficult for Blake, there was something that he was even more disappointed about.
“[Blake] made the comment to me one time, ‘I love the game of football. I love being up here. But what I’m really going to miss is not being able to travel with Bryson in his senior year,’” Chris shared. “It was a bummer. It was bummer for all of us, but things happen. We’ll move on.”
The family support demonstrated by Bryson, Chris and Stacy after Blake’s injury is merely one manifestation of the support system that’s been there the whole time.
The family has always been supportive of whatever current situation they’re in, but they have also encouraged them not to put limits on what they can accomplish long term.
When Bryson turned down other college offers in favor of starting his career as a preferred walk on at Utah, that was a major reason why.
“My dad definitely wanted me to take the opportunity that he felt was best for me,” Bryson said. “And he believed in me as a player to be able to go and perform at that school and be able to play at that level of football.”
For Chris, that required a very conscious, intentional approach.
“I would take him around to camps to compare him with the bigger school kids — to show him that ‘You can compete. They’re just kids. You’re big, strong and fast,’” Chris said. “‘Don’t set the limits on yourself. Work for what you want. Set your goals. God’s going to steer you in different directions. Be humble and work hard, and things will work out.’”
That message, constantly reiterated in the Barnes household growing up, applied to more than just externally limiting oneself. In a family where older siblings have such athletic success, it can be easy for younger siblings to feel as if they’re living in a shadow.
“Something my dad used to say was, ‘You don’t have to be in the shade of someone else’s mountain if you’re a different mountain,’” Blake said. “So yeah, having Bryson out there — it was more inspirational than a shadow, and just seeing what he was doing was just all the more motivation to do the best I could do and what I was doing.”
The mantra of creating your own legacy has lifted more than just Bryson and Blake to impressive achievements. The lone sister of the family Emily Barnes-Sterzer ran track at Weber State.
Their youngest brother Colton Barnes started competing in the high jump during his senior year and ended up setting a school record for the event. Blake and Bryson are also both state champion wrestlers.
“We’re all different. We all come with strengths. Build on your strengths,” Chris said. “Build you the best you can. I hate comparing. Our kids are all totally different — they have their own strengths.”
“Look at your strengths and build on your strengths, whether it’s this direction or whether it’s that direction,” Stacy emphasized. “Build on what God gave us.”
As the Barnes family continues to grow and mature, including adding kids and grandkids, the life beyond sports is growing ever more important.
“The dynamic has really changed now because people are starting to get outside of collegiate sports. They’re moving on with life, opening new chapters, and that involves having nieces and nephews,” Bryson said about the family. “Instead of running outside and playing games outside, now it’s tormenting the nieces or tormenting the little kids. It’s just a new stage, but it’s been great.”
The relatively recent addition of nieces and young kids has brought out a new side of the Barnes duo.
“You see Bryson out here being the competitor that he is on a football field, and then you get him on a FaceTime call with his nieces, and he’s — he’s a wuss,” Chris said. “And Blake’s the same way.”
“He’s like a teddy bear,” Stacy said with a smile.
Though the sun may be setting on Bryson’s college football career, there is much more waiting beyond football. His tender side, along with his family’s, will continue to be put to the test as Bryson and his wife Brittlyn welcome their first son in October.