Gary Barbaro

Gary Barbaro is a retired American football player. He played free safety for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 1982 and one season in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. He played college football at Nicholls State University and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 1976 NFL Draft.

In 1976, Barbaro won the Mack Lee Hill Award for best rookie in the Chiefs organization. During the 1977 season, he had eight interceptions and led the NFL in interception return yards with 165. He holds the Chiefs single-game record for the longest interception return for intercepting a pass and returning it 102 yards for a touchdown. Barbaro was the first honoree of the Kansas City Chiefs Most Valuable Player award in 1979. In that season he intercepted seven passes. The next season, in 1980, he finished second in the league in interceptions with 10, and was named second team 1980 All-NFL by The Sporting News and second team All-Pro by the Associated Press. In 1981, Barbaro had five interceptions for 134 yards while he was named first team All-Pro by the Pro Football Writers Association. In his only USFL season (1984), he was named to The Sporting News USFL All-Star Team.

Over his career in the NFL, Barbaro intercepted 39 passes, currently the fourth highest total in Chiefs history while his 771 career interception yards is second all-time. He was selected to participate in three Pro Bowls following the 1980, 1981, and 1982 seasons.