Familial Support Continues to Motivate Justin Barron

The Syracuse football captain comes from strong athletic bloodlines.

When you look in the stands you see countless fans proudly representing individual players on the team. If you look hard enough you can find one particular Barron jersey each and every game.

The defensive back and special teams captain, Justin Barron, has a lot to play for each weekend. The most important one of all to him is family. As a family of four, Justin can always count on either his sister, father or mother to be at each game. The one wearing the jersey would be his father, Jason Barron who played three seasons for UConn football and his mother, Sara Barron who played soccer at Hartwick College.

“Ever since I first started playing football, the way they’ve pushed and encouraged me and told me that I can do anything I set my mind to. It’s been helpful for me,” said Barron. “It’s exciting to see them there every game and knowing I have someone to play for. Instead of just having them watching the game from the TV, it means more knowing they are there.”

This has been the case for Justin since his first football memory where he walked out off the field hand in hand with his grandfather on one side and mother on the other. Justin had just got done scoring twice in four carries during his first football game. After the game, he looked up at both and said the famous words, “I was born to play football.”

That was the moment his football dreams came alive.

Barron’s path has not always been the easiest one. He was recruited out of Connecticut as one of the top receivers in the state. In his first year of collegiate ball Syracuse changed Barron from a wide receiver to a defensive back in the final three games of the season.

“It was a challenge in really relearning how to use my body and use that to my advantage,” said Barron.

As time went on Barron not only learned the position but excelled in it. Last year, he had a career-best of 65 tackles on the season, which was the third on the team and led all the defensive backs.

“I am more comfortable and confident than ever and that’s been the biggest thing for me this season and growing from last season,” Barron said.

You can see that confidence in Barron’s play and how dominant he and the entire defense have been at the start of this season. 

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