
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information / Your California Privacy Rights are applicable to you. As a result, he entered the NFL in 1967 as a pro football-ready cornerback, earning the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Stepping this week into the Gold Jacket Spotlight, Lem trained with an intensity few matched, going back to his college days in the mid-1960s.
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^ Back to Top ^ © 2023 ESPN Internet Ventures. Lem Barney could deliver the punch line: Practice, practice, practice. It also alleges that the medical center violated the Family and Medical Leave Act by dismissing Barney shortly after his surgery.

High School: 33rd Avenue (Gulfport, MS) Career: 1967-1977 Drafted: 1967 in Round 2, 34 overall by the Detroit Lions Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. The lawsuit is seeking $290,000 in damages. Lemuel Jackson Barney Born: SeptemGulfport, MS USA Position: DB Height: 60' Weight: 188 College: Jackson St. "I need to keep working, but they seemed to think I should retire and they forced me out." "Suing DMC was a last resort," Barney said in a statement released by his attorney. At the time, his pay had been cut from $80,000 per year to $30,000, and he was reduced to handing out parking passes to patients' families, the lawsuit alleges. He was fired in February, just weeks after returning to work after back surgery, following two demotions. Do you know that the most expensive Lem Barney Football Rookie Card (1970 Topps Football Lem Barney ROOKIE RC 75 PSA 10 GEM MINT (PWCC)) was sold on eBay. The 67-year-old also said he ran afoul of a supervisor by signing too many autographs for fans.ĭetroit Medical Center officials declined comment.īarney began working as the medical center's director of physician relations and replacement in 2006.
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You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĭETROIT - Former Detroit Lions great and Hall of Famer Lem Barney filed a discrimination lawsuit Friday against a Detroit health system, alleging he was fired because of his age.īarney, a defensive back with the Lions in the 1960s and '70s, alleges that his supervisor at Detroit Medical Center once asked him, "Why don't you just retire already?" after noting he was in his 60s and made a lot of money playing professional football.
