Honor Goes To Ex-Pro Star Barber Will Receive Contributor Award At Area Football Scholarship Event

Jim Barber, who played on the Washington Redskins’ 1939 NFL championship team coached by Spokane native Ray Flaherty, will be honored as the Outstanding Contributor to amateur football by the Inland Empire Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.

Barber will honored at the Scholar/Athlete banquet Monday night when the third-annual Ray Flaherty scholarship winner will be presented.

The banquet is at the Red Lion City Center at 7 p.m. Washington State coach Mike Price is the guest speaker. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 924-7768.

The 10 high school senior finalists for the Flaherty scholarship were announced last week. About $16,000 in scholarships will be awarded.

Barber, who played football for the University of San Francisco and the Washington Redskins, was introduced to the Spokane area in 1937, when the Redskins held training camp at Cheney.

Flaherty, a Spokane legend, was the Washington coach when the Redskins were enticed to hold their camp at Cheney in 1937. In 1938, the Skins trained at Gonzaga. In 1939, Barber made Spokane his home, at least in the off-season, even though he didn’t retire until 1941.

In 1939, Barber was named All-Pro and the Redskins beat the Chicago Bears 28-21 for the pro football championship.

However, in 1941 he was on the wrong side when the Bears walloped the Redskins 73-0 in the championship game.

Barber was born in Nashville, Tenn., and raised in Manteca, Calif. He was an All-Coast tackle at USF.

He played professionally for the Washington Redskins from 1935-41. The other Redskins tackle most of that time was Turk Edwards, a Washington State product.

Barber joined the Navy in World War II. He was stationed during much of the war at Farragut Naval Training Station on Pend Oreille Lake.

After the war, Barber was a line coach for the old New York Yankees pro football team, working for Flaherty.

He returned to Spokane for good in 1949. First he was a salesman for Bill Hatch Sporting Goods, later becoming vice president and general manager. When the business sold in 1969 he went to work for G.C. George Securities, Inc., and then joined Pennaluna & Co. He was also active in the community and on the golf courses.

Long-time Gonzaga Prep coach Billy Frazier received the first outstanding contributor award last year.

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