Hall of Fame
Running/Defensive Back
Member of 1951 Dons Team
Posted 9-0-0 Regular Season Record
USF Career Years: 1947-1951
Birthdate: February 15, 1927
Hometown: San Francisco
High School: Galileo High School
Roy Barni was born on February 15, 1927 in San Francisco and attended Galileo High School. He attended USF and at 5’ 11” and 185 lbs. played football for the Dons from 1947 to 1951 as a defensive back and as a running back.
Under Head Coach Joe Kuharich, the Dons went undefeated at 9-0 in the 1951 season. With two African-American players on the team Toler and Ollie Matson, they were not invited to any postseason bowl games. The owner of the Gator Bowl, Sam Wolfson had made an agreement with the Orange and Sugar Bowls to omit teams with black players. When the Orange Bowl extended an invitation to them on the condition that the two African-American players be excluded, the team unanimously declined and from then on they were called the “undefeated, untied, and uninvited.” Although the Dons had been denied a bowl berth, the entire team was recognized at the 2008 Fiesta Bowl at long last making an appearance in a bowl game.
Unfortunately without postseason funding, USF was forced to shut down its football program the following year. Attendance at the Kezar games had declined 80% since the arrival of the 49ers in 1946. The squad featured nine future NFL players, including Pro Football Hall of Fame members Matson, Marchetti, and St.Clair, and five earned Pro Bowl selections at some point in their career. The team’s Sports Information Director Pete Rozelle served as NFL Commissioner for 29 years.
Barni graduated that year and was one of the nine players from the 1951 roster drafted into the NFL. He played defensive back for the Chicago Cardinals from 1952-1953, the Philadelphia Eagles from 1954-1955, and for the Washington Redskins from 1955-1956. During his career, he had a total of eleven interceptions, six of which while playing with the Cardinals.
