T J Barnes and #99

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Uniforms Unite Mark Gastineau & T.J. Barnes

Posted 3 hours ago

Randy LangeSenior Reporter, newyorkjets.com@rlangejets Blog: Randy's Radar

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No. 99 Is the Tie That Binds the Jets' Prolific Pass Rusher and the Current Nose Tackle

There aren't any obvious connections between Mark Gastineau and T.J. Barnes.

Gastineau was the Jets' celebrated pass rusher of the Eighties. He formed one of the pillars of the New York Sack Exchange, racked up a then-NFL-record 22 sacks in 1984, and totaled 41 sacks in 1983-84, still the league mark for most sacks in consecutive seasons.

Barnes has no career sacks. In fact, he has one fewer defensive snap in his career, 73, than Gastineau had sacks in his career.

Gastineau was our second-round draft choice in 1979. Barnes signed with Jacksonville as an undrafted free agent in 2013 before joining the Jets practice squad in October that year. Gastineau was an end who in his playing days tipped the scales at 265. Barnes, 100 pounds heavier, is a nose tackle all the way.

Yet there are two things the two men do share and those are the numerals on their jerseys.

No. 99.

What's more, Barnes was well aware of what it meant when he was given the number that Gastineau made famous for Jets Nation three decades earlier.

"I was a big fan of the Jets, once I started getting into football and the NFL," said Barnes (whose cousin is former Jets TE Fred Baxter). "I knew who Mark Gastineau was, but I didn't know the totality of what he did for the organization until I did more research. I watched his highlights, watched how he played the game. He was just phenomenal."

T.J. got to tell Mark all this last month, when Mark and other alumni visited the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center to watch an OTA practice and then do some promotional autograph signings. The two shook hands after the practice and Gastineau admitted the encounter moved him.

"I talked to him and I almost started crying," Gastineau said. "Oh, yeah, he really touched me. He said, 'It's an honor to meet you. You paved the way.' But he said it in such a respectful way. It was just really nice."

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"I told him I was thankful for him paving the way for all the 99s after him, for how the standard should be for when you put on that jersey on Sundays," Barnes said. "I told him he's the past and I'm the present. He joked about it and laughed. I could see in his eyes the number really brought back some memories for him."

Head coach Todd Bowles invited the alums to address the team at the end of that practice. Gastineau, who had his well-publicized personal and legal issues since leaving the game, is now a devout churchgoer who even sings in the choir alongside his wife, JoAnn. Not surprising, then, that his message to the team was not your standard rah-rah football fare.

"When I played, I was more of a single person playing for myself. You know, selfish. Now I'm selfless. So there are a lot of memories that I just use for kids to tell them not to do the same things I did. Even these kids out here," Gastineau, 58, said of the current Jets, "and they are kids."

Barnes, who turned 25 a few weeks after that practice, said he was ready to pop pads and take down some running backs coming at him up the gut in camp after an offseason of no contact.

Now we don't want to limit T.J. and say he doesn't play the same position or have the same build or won't get the same opportunities to approach Gastineau's numbers. However, if big No. 99 shows a particular burst to the quarterback during training camp drills in August, we'll know a little bit about his motivation.

"I'm more the interior type of guy, but I still want to affect and dominate the game like Mark did when he was on the edge," Barnes said. "I know I just have to uphold his standard."

 

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With Snacks in a contract year, and saying he's the best NT in football (he just might be)   T J is in a real good position if he can impress the coaches