Trust The Process: AJ Barber '25

By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

AJ Barber seems like he was destined to play football at Princeton. The son of a beloved NFL standout in the New York City area, Barber grew up determined to play college sports at a premier academic school. He is now on track to reach the 100-catch milestone for the Orange and Black.

It was always meant to be? Well …

Barber once dreamed of playing for the University of Virginia, the alma mater of his parents Tiki and Ginny Barber.

He dreamed of playing college baseball, his first true love, before a devastating shoulder injury ended his career as a pitcher and shortstop.

Even when he was considering Princeton, the COVID pandemic limited his exposure to a Zoom tour of campus.

So maybe it wasn't always meant to be, but both sides couldn't be any happier with the way it turned out.

• • •

Barber's only memories of his father's NFL career were as a young boy who got to stand on the sideline or inside the stadium box. He isn't able to visualize any of his dad's 67 NFL touchdowns, his 10,000+ rushing yards or his trip to the Super Bowl with the Giants.

What he can visualize is a dad who has supported his football career in the best way possible.

"He hangs back a lot more than people would think," Barber said. "Obviously, he gives suggestions, mostly technical: high and tight, take your knees up when you run. Most of what comes from him is the emotional and moral support that a dad should give. He was always there for me and [my brother] Chason, and we were very grateful that he didn't have an outlandish presence in his athletic lives."

That support included a trip to Princeton Stadium last Friday night, when Princeton jumped back into the Ivy League race with a 29-17 home win over Brown. AJ caught three passes for 42 yards for the Tigers, while his younger brother Chason had two catches for 43 yards for Brown. It was special for AJ to be able to share the field with his brother, who has battled back from injury to become part of the Bears offense.

AJ and Chason both grew up as top athletes who always kept the proper perspective on academics.

"Academics were extremely important," Barber said. "We both know getting to the NFL is really hard to do. We always had a standard for the school we wanted to go to, and academically, the Ivies were our targets. We both wished we could play at Virginia early on because our parents went there, but especially after COVID, it was tough. Ivies were the main goal for me then."

Princeton was early on seeing Barber's potential, and he quickly returned the interest. Not only had Princeton been the top Ivy League football program over the previous decade, but it maintained its standing as the top-rated university in the country.

Despite not experiencing a true visit, Barber committed to Princeton and was determined to become a focal point of the offense as quickly as possible.

It didn't take long.

• • •
The best Princeton teams over the last decade had slot receivers who made critical impacts on Ivy championship seasons. Jacob Birmelin led the 2021 Ivy championship team in catches and receiving yards. James Frusciante led the 2016 Ivy championship team in catches. Google "Roman Wilson and Harvard" sometime and watch BOTH game-winning touchdowns, including the third-overtime score during the 2013 championship season.

Barber worked his way to becoming a top-level slot receiver by the start of his sophomore season. He caught 28 passes for 245 yards during that 2022 season, and he added 42 catches for 582 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Playing the slot requires equal measures of athleticism, intelligence and fearlessness. Barber has them all.

"You need to be quick, agile, and have a good special awareness of the field around you," he said. "You work in the interior with the linebackers around you and the safeties above you, so if you have a good understanding of how the field plays out, you can position yourself accordingly. That's a lot of how our offense works. We attack zones, and it's up to us to find those zones.

"My interpretation of the slot position is that it's your job to allow the quarterback to get the ball out of their hands, and for you to turn a short run long," Barber added.

For two years, he worked with quarterback Blake Stenstrom, and the two built a connection that helped create a foundation for the offense. He has had four games with new starter Blaine Hipa, although the two friends have been working together for the last three years. After only three catches total over the first two games, Barber has averaged more than four over the last three games.

"AJ will go down as one of our top wide receivers," head coach Bob Surace said. "He operates mostly out of the slot, and he has shown the ability to make plays downfield. I think his most overlooked quality is his impact in the return game. His ability to operate in space is dynamic."

Barber enters the home stretch of his Princeton time with 86 career receptions for 1,033 yards and five touchdowns, but his focus remains on building towards better days ahead.

"Throughout my time here, Princeton takes a process-oriented approach to everything we do," he said. "If we do the process right, the results will show."

Barber is a testament to that philosophy. He didn't necessarily anticipate where the process would lead him, but the results have shown.

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