October 11, 2023 • 10 mins
Wayne Larrivee sits down with former Green Bay Packers linebacker Sam Barrington to talk about wanting to make an early impact in Green Bay (0:55), playing on a team loaded with talent in 2014 (4:45), and his perspective of playing against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 NFC Championship (7:56).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravie. This is the Packers Alumni
spot Life. Linebacker Sam Barrington was a seventh round draft
(00:27):
choice by the Packers in twenty thirteen out of South
Florida now South Florida. That's a long way from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I was excited for the opportunity primarily, you know, grew
up in Jacksonville, Florida, played football all my life, and
it never turns into a reality until you start to,
you know, really separate yourself from the rest of the
guys on the college level. And that was happening for me.
But I just wanted to get up to Green Bay
(00:57):
and just showed the team, the coaches what I could do.
And I just came in with a very serious demeanor.
I wanted to work hard every day and show the
guys that I could be a professional.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Was there anybody earlier in your career that kind of
influenced you, that took you in a certain direction that
you ended up becoming a pro.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
When you say earlier in my career.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You mean college career or college, your high school, whoever,
who had the biggest impact on you it set you
on the road you followed.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, I believe the biggest impact had to be my parents.
They're two different people, you know, but they're both very
much so hard working, and I've always been a guy.
As independent as I was as a kid, I still
wanted to make my parents happy. I guess that that's
that oldest son syndrome. And I still live today with
everything I do. When I work hard, it's for my family.
(01:47):
And more than anything, it was my dad and just
how he's worked hard his whole life and some of
the things that he's been able to do, not just
here in America, but in other countries as well. And
I just wanted to show my dad that, you know,
he created somebody who's similar to him and who also
cut from the same cloth.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
What does your dad do?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
My dad's in the heavy machinery industry, and I've taken
on that specialty after return from the NFL as well,
so I'm also in heavy machinery industry, specifically cranes. So
we serviced the construction industry, and again we're just a
family of hardworking people, good people with good ethics and
good morals.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You came to Green Bay and hard work and blue
collar and all that stuff. That's what the Packers are,
aren't they.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I found out pretty early, I think a lot
of people. Obviously, being a Florida guy going to college
at the University of South Florida, he'd come to Wisconsin never.
I think I had only seen snow maybe one time
in a game my freshman year against the University of Connecticut.
So this was a special experience, but it just kind
of gave me an opportunity to grow up. Obviously, Green
(02:55):
Bay is a very small town. It's not much to
do in the city of Green Bay. But be a professional,
focus on yourself and focus on your craft, and I
think that's one of the main reasons the franchise has
sustained so much success over a select period of time.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You've also joined the team that linebacking corps, the linebacker room,
talk about that. The people in that room is starting
I guess with Clay Matthews.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Right, Yeah, well, definitely starting with Clay. I mean Clay
was the ideal professional and obviously a lot of people
know he started his college career off as an underdog
and worked his way up, and so I think beyond anybody, Yes,
he grew into a superstar, but Clay Matthews was the
epitome of a blue collar guy. Next, I definitely have
(03:36):
to talk about AJ Hawk, and so I came into
my own after being his backup. And you know, AJ
was on the ladder end of his career and I
got an opportunity to play beside him and also play
the same position as him. But AJ was also a
guy who's a consummate professional, did everything the right way,
and I'm just truly thankful to kind of sit behind
(03:59):
him and learn from AJ. I think the other guy
liked to talk about, obviously, is Julius Peppers. When you
start to take a look at potential Hall of famers,
I knew very early on that Julius Peppers, obviously he'll
be a Hall of Famer one day. So to be
on the field at the same time as Julius, he
wasn't a guy who talked much, but when he did speak,
(04:19):
he spoke with a great deal of tenacity and just
information and wisdom.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
In Green Bay, Berrington joined a linebacking corp featuring legendary
figures like play Matthews, AJ Hawk and Julius Peppers. Sam's
best season was twenty fourteen, when he played in fourteen games,
starting seven on a squad that came with an eyelash
of making it to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
You know, I think we have a lot of talent
on that team, and I think the coaching staff just
needed a few games to kind of figure out where
to how to configure the pieces. I mean, you talk
about myself and Clay at the middle linebacker spot, but
it's easy to miss a guy like Mike Daniels, who
had a heck of a season that year at the
nose tackle and defensive end position. In the three to
fourth defense. You also got to talk about guys like
(05:08):
Jay Roon and Elliott and ha Ha Clinton Dix who
were young guys that came in and they contributed. I mean,
Jay Ron was probably our best special teams player, and
he was a guy who could come in on defense
and definitely contribute from a pass rushing standpoint. Ha Ha
Clinton Dix went on to be one of the best
safeties in the league his rookie year, and you take
a look at offense, a guy like Davonte Adams, who
(05:29):
when the coaching staff came in. Obviously you select him
in the second round, you expect him to contribute, But
I don't think people expected Davante to be who he
became over the course of his career here in Green Bay.
And then obviously Jordi having a career year. I think
that was also something that was very special for us.
Jordie was a guy who connected really well Aaron, him
(05:52):
and Randall just so much talent on that team. Once
the coaching staffs found out how to get everybody in
the right spot, we just became an unstoppable for us
and me and Clay at the middle linebacker position. I
was talking to a guy about it earlier. I think
that was probably one of the last years where you
saw middle linebackers that size. Or myself I'm six one,
(06:17):
two hundred and forty five pounds that time, Clay Matthews
sixty three, two hundred and fifty five pounds. Linebackers difficult
for anybody in the NFL to run the ball on
the defense with that type of size.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Sam that season, if I recall correctly, you guys were
in New Orleans, I want to say it was a
Sunday night game right before your bye week, you got
blasted and trampled by mark Ingram and the Saints. And
that's when Dom Capers during that bye week, made the
change and said we're going to move to Clay Matthews inside,
paired him with you, and then all of a sudden,
you guys started playing the run much better, and that's
(06:49):
when that defense evolved to Super Bowl caliber.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Can you recall that? Yeah, I recall it. I mean
even myself, you know. And don't get me wrong, I
think Clay Matthews moving inside resulted in less playing time
for aj Hawk, but there were things that I needed
to improve in my game as well, and so I
took a hard look at the film and I think
it was more about just making sure I was very
firm at the point of contact and just knock back tackles,
(07:16):
playing with a sense of urgency that you didn't see
a lot of young guys playing with at the time.
And I think that couple with Clay be in transitioned
to the inside. I know he wasn't happy about it
at first, but grew to love the position. I think
those things what contributed to us kind of separating ourselves
as a defense.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So you guys made a playoff run. You beat Dallas
in a game in Lambellfield, great game, and then went
to Seattle took on the defending Super Bowl champs, the
team you lost to begin the season, if you recall,
and you guys, going into that game, not many people
gave you much of a chance, but for fifty five
minutes you were firing away the better team. Talk about
(07:53):
that day, that game, and what are your remembrances of that.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, I think primarily I remember it and a lot
of media coverage on that game. And one of the
things I mentioned to the media, I told them, hey,
we're not the team that we were when we came
here in Week one, and we're not going to talk
much about what we're going to go out and do.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And so I think you take a look at three
quarters of football.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Maybe we sacked Russell Wilson maybe six times and probably
intercepted them maybe four or five times. And don't get
me wrong, Marshawn Lach did have a great day, but
that was their only option. We wanted to keep them
to be in a one dimensional team, no deep shots
from Russell Wilson. We knew they wanted to go a
lot of play action and had a few interceptions on
(08:36):
play action type plays, but we just knew who we
wanted to be. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done. But
we knew who we were, and we knew that we
were the best team in the NFL that year. Obviously
with us beaten since i mean Seattle for the majority
of the game, and then for them to lose to
the Patriots, you know, we pretty much were the best
team for majority of the season and we just couldn't
(08:59):
get it done.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How devastating was that for you personally?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
For the team in general, it was very devastating because
really it starts in April. Usually most teams report April eighteenth,
and so you literally have nine months of a grind, right, well,
ten months, I mean up until February, and so we
were nine and a half months in and everything seemed right.
I mean, guys were kind of celebrating on the sideline,
(09:25):
not all the way, but guys were just excited, and
so to be there, right, and to be there, to
be so close and then lose a game like that,
I mean, it matures you. I was very much so saddened.
I've only cried after a few football games in my life,
and that was one.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
But it was a cry of joy.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It was a cry of pain and joy at the
same time, primarily because it's like a release.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
The season is over.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You kind of get back home, you know, celebrate each other,
spend some time with each other, and then you know,
all back at it next year.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But it was a it was a it was a
very story season and it was an experience that I'll
never forget today.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Sam Barrington is the COO of Orlando based sky Limit
Equipment LLC. His parents taught him hard work pays off,
and it certainly has both on and off the field
for Sam Barrington.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
M mmmmmmm
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravie. This is the Packers Alumni
spot Life. Linebacker Sam Barrington was a seventh round draft
(00:27):
choice by the Packers in twenty thirteen out of South
Florida now South Florida. That's a long way from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I was excited for the opportunity primarily, you know, grew
up in Jacksonville, Florida, played football all my life, and
it never turns into a reality until you start to,
you know, really separate yourself from the rest of the
guys on the college level. And that was happening for me.
But I just wanted to get up to Green Bay
(00:57):
and just showed the team, the coaches what I could do.
And I just came in with a very serious demeanor.
I wanted to work hard every day and show the
guys that I could be a professional.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Was there anybody earlier in your career that kind of
influenced you, that took you in a certain direction that
you ended up becoming a pro.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
When you say earlier in my career.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You mean college career or college, your high school, whoever,
who had the biggest impact on you it set you
on the road you followed.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, I believe the biggest impact had to be my parents.
They're two different people, you know, but they're both very
much so hard working, and I've always been a guy.
As independent as I was as a kid, I still
wanted to make my parents happy. I guess that that's
that oldest son syndrome. And I still live today with
everything I do. When I work hard, it's for my family.
(01:47):
And more than anything, it was my dad and just
how he's worked hard his whole life and some of
the things that he's been able to do, not just
here in America, but in other countries as well. And
I just wanted to show my dad that, you know,
he created somebody who's similar to him and who also
cut from the same cloth.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
What does your dad do?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
My dad's in the heavy machinery industry, and I've taken
on that specialty after return from the NFL as well,
so I'm also in heavy machinery industry, specifically cranes. So
we serviced the construction industry, and again we're just a
family of hardworking people, good people with good ethics and
good morals.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You came to Green Bay and hard work and blue
collar and all that stuff. That's what the Packers are,
aren't they.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I found out pretty early, I think a lot
of people. Obviously, being a Florida guy going to college
at the University of South Florida, he'd come to Wisconsin never.
I think I had only seen snow maybe one time
in a game my freshman year against the University of Connecticut.
So this was a special experience, but it just kind
of gave me an opportunity to grow up. Obviously, Green
(02:55):
Bay is a very small town. It's not much to
do in the city of Green Bay. But be a professional,
focus on yourself and focus on your craft, and I
think that's one of the main reasons the franchise has
sustained so much success over a select period of time.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You've also joined the team that linebacking corps, the linebacker room,
talk about that. The people in that room is starting
I guess with Clay Matthews.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Right, Yeah, well, definitely starting with Clay. I mean Clay
was the ideal professional and obviously a lot of people
know he started his college career off as an underdog
and worked his way up, and so I think beyond anybody, Yes,
he grew into a superstar, but Clay Matthews was the
epitome of a blue collar guy. Next, I definitely have
(03:36):
to talk about AJ Hawk, and so I came into
my own after being his backup. And you know, AJ
was on the ladder end of his career and I
got an opportunity to play beside him and also play
the same position as him. But AJ was also a
guy who's a consummate professional, did everything the right way,
and I'm just truly thankful to kind of sit behind
(03:59):
him and learn from AJ. I think the other guy
liked to talk about, obviously, is Julius Peppers. When you
start to take a look at potential Hall of famers,
I knew very early on that Julius Peppers, obviously he'll
be a Hall of Famer one day. So to be
on the field at the same time as Julius, he
wasn't a guy who talked much, but when he did speak,
(04:19):
he spoke with a great deal of tenacity and just
information and wisdom.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
In Green Bay, Berrington joined a linebacking corp featuring legendary
figures like play Matthews, AJ Hawk and Julius Peppers. Sam's
best season was twenty fourteen, when he played in fourteen games,
starting seven on a squad that came with an eyelash
of making it to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
You know, I think we have a lot of talent
on that team, and I think the coaching staff just
needed a few games to kind of figure out where
to how to configure the pieces. I mean, you talk
about myself and Clay at the middle linebacker spot, but
it's easy to miss a guy like Mike Daniels, who
had a heck of a season that year at the
nose tackle and defensive end position. In the three to
fourth defense. You also got to talk about guys like
(05:08):
Jay Roon and Elliott and ha Ha Clinton Dix who
were young guys that came in and they contributed. I mean,
Jay Ron was probably our best special teams player, and
he was a guy who could come in on defense
and definitely contribute from a pass rushing standpoint. Ha Ha
Clinton Dix went on to be one of the best
safeties in the league his rookie year, and you take
a look at offense, a guy like Davonte Adams, who
(05:29):
when the coaching staff came in. Obviously you select him
in the second round, you expect him to contribute, But
I don't think people expected Davante to be who he
became over the course of his career here in Green Bay.
And then obviously Jordi having a career year. I think
that was also something that was very special for us.
Jordie was a guy who connected really well Aaron, him
(05:52):
and Randall just so much talent on that team. Once
the coaching staffs found out how to get everybody in
the right spot, we just became an unstoppable for us
and me and Clay at the middle linebacker position. I
was talking to a guy about it earlier. I think
that was probably one of the last years where you
saw middle linebackers that size. Or myself I'm six one,
(06:17):
two hundred and forty five pounds that time, Clay Matthews
sixty three, two hundred and fifty five pounds. Linebackers difficult
for anybody in the NFL to run the ball on
the defense with that type of size.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Sam that season, if I recall correctly, you guys were
in New Orleans, I want to say it was a
Sunday night game right before your bye week, you got
blasted and trampled by mark Ingram and the Saints. And
that's when Dom Capers during that bye week, made the
change and said we're going to move to Clay Matthews inside,
paired him with you, and then all of a sudden,
you guys started playing the run much better, and that's
(06:49):
when that defense evolved to Super Bowl caliber.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Can you recall that? Yeah, I recall it. I mean
even myself, you know. And don't get me wrong, I
think Clay Matthews moving inside resulted in less playing time
for aj Hawk, but there were things that I needed
to improve in my game as well, and so I
took a hard look at the film and I think
it was more about just making sure I was very
firm at the point of contact and just knock back tackles,
(07:16):
playing with a sense of urgency that you didn't see
a lot of young guys playing with at the time.
And I think that couple with Clay be in transitioned
to the inside. I know he wasn't happy about it
at first, but grew to love the position. I think
those things what contributed to us kind of separating ourselves
as a defense.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So you guys made a playoff run. You beat Dallas
in a game in Lambellfield, great game, and then went
to Seattle took on the defending Super Bowl champs, the
team you lost to begin the season, if you recall,
and you guys, going into that game, not many people
gave you much of a chance, but for fifty five
minutes you were firing away the better team. Talk about
(07:53):
that day, that game, and what are your remembrances of that.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, I think primarily I remember it and a lot
of media coverage on that game. And one of the
things I mentioned to the media, I told them, hey,
we're not the team that we were when we came
here in Week one, and we're not going to talk
much about what we're going to go out and do.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And so I think you take a look at three
quarters of football.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Maybe we sacked Russell Wilson maybe six times and probably
intercepted them maybe four or five times. And don't get
me wrong, Marshawn Lach did have a great day, but
that was their only option. We wanted to keep them
to be in a one dimensional team, no deep shots
from Russell Wilson. We knew they wanted to go a
lot of play action and had a few interceptions on
(08:36):
play action type plays, but we just knew who we
wanted to be. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done. But
we knew who we were, and we knew that we
were the best team in the NFL that year. Obviously
with us beaten since i mean Seattle for the majority
of the game, and then for them to lose to
the Patriots, you know, we pretty much were the best
team for majority of the season and we just couldn't
(08:59):
get it done.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How devastating was that for you personally?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
For the team in general, it was very devastating because
really it starts in April. Usually most teams report April eighteenth,
and so you literally have nine months of a grind, right, well,
ten months, I mean up until February, and so we
were nine and a half months in and everything seemed right.
I mean, guys were kind of celebrating on the sideline,
(09:25):
not all the way, but guys were just excited, and
so to be there, right, and to be there, to
be so close and then lose a game like that,
I mean, it matures you. I was very much so saddened.
I've only cried after a few football games in my life,
and that was one.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
But it was a cry of joy.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It was a cry of pain and joy at the
same time, primarily because it's like a release.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
The season is over.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You kind of get back home, you know, celebrate each other,
spend some time with each other, and then you know,
all back at it next year.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But it was a it was a it was a
very story season and it was an experience that I'll
never forget today.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Sam Barrington is the COO of Orlando based sky Limit
Equipment LLC. His parents taught him hard work pays off,
and it certainly has both on and off the field
for Sam Barrington.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
M mmmmmmm
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