Heavy Hitter at Valley : 280-Pound Barry Daniels Doesn’t Spare the Rod Whether Belting a Ballcarrier or Reeling in Fish

A pier, a lake shore, a river bank or a jetty. Other than in a quarterback’s face, those are the places Barry Daniels prefers to camp himself and have a good time.

Daniels, a sophomore defensive tackle for Valley College, is a fisherman. He enjoys angling for catfish and tangling with offensive linemen--and he believes there isn’t much difference between the species.

“Fish are just like offensive linemen,” Daniels said. “I like to chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out.”

This season, Daniels has been reeling in running backs, quarterbacks and other offensive creatures with as much resolve as a salmon on a spawning run. He leads the Monarchs with 14 sacks, averages about five unassisted tackles a game and generally wreaks havoc in the sea of humanity that is the line of scrimmage.

“I’m a beast on the field,” Daniels said.

And at the dinner table as well.

Posters of William (The Refrigerator) Perry, the Chicago Bears defensive lineman, adorn Daniels’ bedroom wall. Last summer, Daniels took on the appearance of his hero by adding a few extra pounds to his already Fridge-like 5-11, 280-pound frame.

“I just ate and blew up,” said Daniels, who returned for fall practice weighing 296. “I was a little too big. I have a little car and it was kind of tilting down the road.”

Three-a-day workouts in the fall began to melt away the pounds. But Daniels didn’t, or rather couldn’t, stop losing weight until he bottomed out at 250--three pounds less than his current weight.

“I was so exhausted when I got home, I didn’t want to eat,” he said.

The result is a more mobile Daniels who has combined his strength and bulk with new-found quickness to become a major-college prospect.

“Barry has the ability to dominate even though he gets double-teamed a lot,” Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero said. “He’s a smart player and he is very tough. Contact doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He thrives on it.”

It has been that way for Daniels since the first time he put on a football uniform as a high school sophomore.

“Barry is one of the few guys I’ve ever had who really enjoyed contact,” said Darryl Stroh, who coached Daniels at Granada Hills. “He enjoyed the drills and very few people looked forward to those. Most people love to play in the game, but they don’t like hitting the bags. Barry liked all of it.”

Daniels, 19, was the only returning defensive lineman for Valley this season and Ferrero was concerned that the defensive front would be a weak link in an otherwise strong unit. With his play, Daniels has helped erase those fears and earned player-of-the-week honors three times.

“The best way to describe Barry is silent but deadly,” said Joe Zacharia, a Valley linebacker. “He’s really laid the bonecrusher on some guys. But he’s not the type of guy who talks about it. He makes a great hit and he won’t help the guy up. He just walks away.”

There was an incident earlier this season, however, when a concerned Daniels stayed on the scene. Against Harbor, Daniels made a particularly violent hit that broke the jaw of an opponent.

“I was happy that I made the hit and made the stands quiet for a second,” Daniels said. “That did make me feel good to stun them a little bit. But I was worried about the guy I hit because I thought I’d hurt his spine.

“He was knocked out and all I saw were the whites of his eyes. I have a big heart and I don’t want to hurt anybody. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Daniels’ philosophy comes from his playing experience on the streets of South-Central Los Angeles. He never was allowed to play in Pop Warner leagues because he was too big and “wasn’t planning on losing weight at that time.” Instead, he played with his older brothers Wayne and Vern in front of the Daniels home. Sometimes the game spilled into the house.

“My brothers have been awfully tough on me,” Daniels said. “They used to dog me.

“When I was in junior high, I ran from this kid. My brothers knew I ran from him so they just beat me up. Sometimes I’d come home from school and they’d get me in a headlock and we’d be wrestling. They made me pretty tough.”

Daniels has also displayed fortitude in the classroom. In high school, he took various special education classes to overcome a reading disability and improve his study skills. In June, Daniels will graduate from Valley with an Associated Arts degree and he is thinking about majoring in speech at the four-year level.

“I learn more every day,” Daniels said. “In high school, my instructors just pounded it in to me and helped me progress.

“It’s not easy. It’s still a struggle. But I’m making it. I was never a quitter. I just stuck it out and hung with it.

“I try to do the same thing on the football field. And when I’m fishing.”