With Kansas State taking on Louisville tonight on ESPN2, it seemed like an apt moment to mention the hit heard round the Internet.
As recounted in the Washington Post:
“Kevin Barnes was best known as a slender fifth-year senior who had a penchant for missing tackles last season in Maryland’s defensive backfield. When the weekend ended, Barnes was known in select circles only as the player who delivered a hit so hard it made someone throw up.
“How that happened is a testament to the power of the Internet, where Barnes’s image will long live because of five seconds of football that resulted in considerable, if not typical, notoriety. When he crashed his shoulder into the chest of California running back Jahvid Best in the second quarter of Maryland’s 35-27 victory, Barnes had no idea he soon would be entering cyberspace lore.
Nor did he realize the magnitude of the hit when he saw Best crawling on knees and hands and vomiting on the field.”
Barnes may even have a future as a food safety risk communicator:
"He’s not permanently hurt, so I’m fine with that. Had he died or something, I’d have felt bad, but he’ll probably be playing next week."
Or not.