A.J. Barner on 'Captain Hook' Nickname and His Super Bowl LX Touchdown Catch

What this episode is about

A.J. Barner, a tight end from Aurora, Ohio, reflects on his Super Bowl LX touchdown catch and discusses the dynamics of his team during the game. He shares the thrill of scoring the only touchdown and reveals insights about play communication and the excitement of playing at the highest level.

Key takeaways

• Even in chaos, knowing your role can turn a miscommunication into a game-winning touchdown.
• AJ's slow-motion glory reminds us: in sports, moments of brilliance are often followed by sweet confusion.
• Friendships forged on the field can fuel NFL careers, especially for tight ends from Northeast Ohio.
• A tight end’s success hinges on teamwork; without solid blockers, even Super Bowl touchdowns become improbable.
• Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of a touchdown—except maybe reminiscing about it in glorious slow motion.

Who speaks in this episode?

• A.J. Barner (Guest) · 11 min speaking
• Jason (Guest) · 5 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: AJ Barnyard Barer, Seattle Seahawks, University of Michigan
2. 6:00 – 9:00: AJ Barnyard Barer, San Jose
3. 12:00 – 15:00: Kenneth Walker, University of Michigan
4. 15:00 – 16:13: Kenneth Walker

Notable quotes from "A.J. Barner on 'Captain Hook' Nickname and His Super Bowl LX Touchdown Catch"

• OF MICHIGAN AND NOW HE IS A SUPER BOWL CHAMPION WITH THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PERCENTAGE. PLEASE WELCOME TO THE SHOW SWAG CHAMP AJ BARNYARD BARER getting the tutty in the Super…

  about AJ Barnyard Barer · at 1:04

• Like the peak is that confetti falling down. Like is the club in San Jose going to do it for me after that? Like probably not. Probably not. But eventually I'm going to celebrate in a in the right way.

  about San Jose · at 6:44

• Let you go. We got to ask about this quote. Blocking for Kenneth Walker. All right. Grind meat, carry water. We get it done in the trenches, baby.

  about Kenneth Walker · at 13:58

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• AJ Barnyard Barer — Person · Main guest · 2 mentions · first at 1:08
  Featured as the episode’s interview subject: a Seattle Seahawks tight end and Super Bowl champion discussing his TD, blocking mentality, and team culture.
• Kenneth Walker — Person · Referenced teammate · 3 mentions · first at 13:58
  Mentioned as the running back AJ blocks for; used to introduce AJ’s “grind meat, carry water” trench mentality quote.

Companies & orgs

• Seattle Seahawks — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 1:04
  The team AJ Barnyard Barer is currently playing for and won the Super Bowl with.
  IS 6'6 TIGHT END FROM AURORA, OHIO. HE'S WON A NATIONAL TITLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND NOW HE IS A SUPER BOWL CHAMPION WITH THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PERCENTAGE. PLEASE…
• University of Michigan — Company · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at 1:02
  The university where AJ Barnyard Barer won a national title before joining the NFL.
  WE'VE GOT ONE MORE WORLD CHAMPION SEATTLE SEAHAWK FOR YOU. OUR NEXT GUEST IS 6'6 TIGHT END FROM AURORA, OHIO. HE'S WON A NATIONAL TITLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND NOW HE…

Places & events

• San Jose — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 6:36
  The location where AJ Barnyard Barer and his family celebrated after the Super Bowl.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 our next champion. Oh man, I can't wait for you guys to meet old barn house. Cleveland boys here.

0:12 Come on, Jason. I never met you, bro. AJ, good to meet you. Good to meet you, AJ. Always good to meet a fellow Northeast Ohio guy.

0:22 Yes, sir. We stick together, dog. Just a ball player. Play ball. That's cold. We just play ball. Rain, snow,

0:30 parking lot, cement, turf, Super Bowl. Pick the place. I'll be there. Go. And you got a tutty in the game,

0:40 man. Needed that. Needed that. You kidding me? Yeah, man. Needed that. Well done. Well done. All right, we're going to do an intro and then we're going to get right to it. Sound good, AJ?

0:50 Sounds good. All righty, 92enters. We are not done. WE'VE GOT ONE MORE WORLD CHAMPION SEATTLE SEAHAWK FOR YOU. OUR NEXT GUEST IS 6'6 TIGHT END FROM AURORA, OHIO. HE'S WON A NATIONAL TITLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND NOW HE IS A SUPER BOWL CHAMPION WITH THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS PERCENTAGE. PLEASE WELCOME TO THE SHOW SWAG CHAMP AJ BARNYARD BARER

1:18 getting the tutty in the Super Bowl, dude. Did you black out before you hit the [ __ ] on him, dog?

1:24 Man, you know how it is. just yes. Blacked out, slow motion. Everything just becomes slow motion and then just all the boys find you and it's just like it's hard to collect yourself after that and be like, "All right, like let me finish this game and

1:39 be ready to go make another play." Dude, so epic, dog. And it was a big time touchdown. The only touchdown, man. Yeah,

1:45 we had Cooper on this thing talking about how he heard the play might have been flipped or there there might have been just like a a little bit of like a miscommunication on where Yeah. Did you know that that was going on?

2:00 I just caught wind of that and like you got you know how it is. I heard I heard yada yada y scissors. I'm like all right bet. I know the play like air this thing out baby. I I know where to line up. You boys line up.

2:17 Let's get this damn play called. Yeah. So [ __ ] good, dog. You came through. So it's a great [ __ ] play design, by the way. [ __ ] awesome. I'm sure you guys had ran the run to that where you got you're helping out to the the outside zone to it and everything. I've ran that play once or twice in my day from the back field. being from the back field or running a corner. The hardest part

2:41 is getting through the linebacker coming to meet you and you you just [ __ ] slid him

2:48 just a little. Bro, if he [ __ ] wreck like if he collisions you, that play is a completely different play.

2:54 No doubt. Walk us through it, man. You saw him coming through the [ __ ] hole or what?

2:58 Let's Hold on. We We're We got it on tape. Let's play it and then Do you want to talk over it if you want, AJ? Is that good? Let's hear bring out the broadcast in the guy. Let's go, man. Down the tape.

3:10 About to have this at TEU next year. You're going to be on the [ __ ] drawing board, dude.

3:14 Facts. Facts. I was going to bust your balls a little bit, Trav. I was going to say, man, like people people don't say that Trav blocks. Trav does block for sure, but some of the DMs be working with Trav a little bit. Like, I don't know what WE GOT TO DO,

3:29 but they show love a little bit. Good union work. You already know. We good? Good. Good. Good. Good.

3:36 Yeah. You good? All right. All right. All right. But uh so we run out we run the [ __ ] out of outside zone. This is Zoro concept, but I'm sure you guys know Zoro.

3:46 Yeah. And like this combination is two tight ends. Zoro blocking and end big to like usually the corner, the safety who's down, who's this guy who's down next to the linebacker.

3:56 Yep. So obviously we're going two for two there. We've ran the hell out of it. And like Trav said pre- snap, like I'm looking over there. I guess the formation was messed up and I'm trying to get a peak like all right, who am I gonna have to navigate here to get out? Um, and again, like it's like I feel like the route is what it is on the paper, but it's like all right, like how can I get out and just get free? So yeah, if you run it

4:24 just navigated out of there and as soon as I seen Coupe clear, I was just off his hip

4:29 and then could have been a little bit smoother but could have been smoother. What are you talking about? You got a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

4:35 No, bro. Are you kidding me? No, no, no. For sure. For sure. Maybe could have stayed up, but get out of here.

4:42 I'm just like running. Bro, when you got through second level clean, were you like I'm open. I'm open. I'm open. Bro, that [ __ ] like the way the mind works is just like

4:53 Yeah. Yeah. It's like where's this ball at? I'm trying to find it. Track it. I know it's coming.

4:59 And you know how it is, too? Like I'm looking for the quarterback. Yeah. I'm trying to find the quarterback's eyes and like where he's at in the pocket. You see it in the air, the trajectory of it finally. Like once you locate the quarterback,

5:11 and then it's just like, "All right, let me go glue this." There we go, baby. And then boom, the wheel stops. slow motion. Yeah. But I feel like you live those moments out before they happen. Like

5:23 the only reason I wanted to play this back is you guys do such a good job of selling this. The backers actually run through right?

5:29 Yeah. And that's why I want to give uh Darnold some props here. He stands there and delivers this with He knows he's about to get crushed.

5:36 Oh yeah. Linebacker is coming down right on top of him. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like right in front of him. Doesn't bat n knows that you're going to be there.

5:43 Sammy's a dog, man. Just well done by both of you guys. Damy's a dog. Physical cat, too. Played linebacker in high school. So, if you're playing ball for this Seahawks, you better be able to to lower some pads.

5:55 You just spoke to Jason Soul when you said he played linebacker in high school.

6:00 Damn straight. Damn straight. Oh, yeah. Well, uh, how you feeling, bud? Super Bowl champion.

6:06 Feeling really good. Feeling really good. Uh, our team's a little like we got some vets on the team on our offense.

6:13 I'm definitely a young cat. Swag champ though, baby. You already know. You bring the juice.

6:17 Yes, sir. You bring the juice for the old cats, dog. You already know. You got to Somebody's got to do it.

6:23 Somebody's got to do it. I'm going to enjoy it for sure. But quite honestly, I'm just trying to take it all in.

6:29 Dude, I'm so happy for you. Have you slept yet? Yeah, bro. After the game, I was honestly just with the fam. Like, we were in San Jose, like way outside the city. Um, so we got after a little bit, but like you guys know how it is too. Like the peak is that confetti falling down. Like is the club in San Jose going to do it for me after that? Like probably not. Probably not. But eventually I'm going to celebrate in a in a in the right way.

6:57 Well, you better be. You're You got a parade tomorrow, right? For sure. You geared up.

7:02 You know what you're wearing? I might channel my inner Jason on the mic. Let's go, baby. Can't wait to hear this. Hell yeah. It's going to be awesome.

7:10 Have you thought about what you're going to say if you're going to get on the mic?

7:15 No. I'm one of the guys, too, like Coupe, let's get Coupe on the mic. Let's get Sammy on the mic. I'll vibe with the crowd. I'm going to live life and just enjoy the moment and see where it takes me.

7:27 Are you Are you more of a a a beer or liquor guy? What are we going with? Beer for sure.

7:32 If I could tell you one advice, man. Midwest beer. If I could give you one bit of advice, dude, if you stick with the light beer, you're going to be good. Right. The moment you start pouring the shots down, everybody's, "Oh, we want to do Yeah. No.

7:45 You're going to be bad. You got It's a marathon." Yeah. No doubt. You can, you know, when the beers are uh when the beers are starting to kick.

7:52 Yes. And uh the liquor, dude. The liquor will hit you out of nowhere. Sneaks up on you. Yeah. Give you that right hook

8:01 for sure. This guy's won a title before. How does this feel compared to to when you won it at Michigan?

8:07 I just feel like when you have a team like the ingredients are there. Like y'all have won championships before. Like there's a lot of similarities between championship teams and I felt that with this team and I'm a little bit spoiled cuz like I've had the confetti and reached the pinnacle at that level. Obviously it's different. Um but to have that experience just two short years ago

8:28 um it's been incredible. And obviously like the Super Bowl is a whole another level, but like quite frankly I feel like the vibe that you get with this team is like we just kind of expected to be here and now it's happened and it's like holy [ __ ] like we did it,

8:43 you know? So I think uh it's just going to continue to settle in and be better and better. But you know it we're going to enjoy it and then [ __ ] next year is going to roll around and we'll have a target on our back.

8:54 That's how it goes, baby. Well, you'll definitely have the target on your back. But that's what you want. It's it's it's good to have the target on your back. Yeah,

9:01 it's an honor to have the target on your bat, man. It's the best [ __ ] ever. Facts, bro. Facts.

9:07 Well, in your first year, do you have a you have a welcome to the NFL moment? I mean, this is winning the Super Bowl. That's a hell of a welcome.

9:14 All right. I've been um saving this story for a great podcast. And you guys, big hit here. Bless us. Big hit here. And I gota look at my guy Rich here because I've been saving this one and we'll see where it goes. But okay, so Cooper Cup mentioned that like I'm like uh you know just like you never know what you're going to get

9:40 of course and Coupe had mentioned in the media this story about me being Captain Hook,

9:46 which can be so many different directions. So many different directions. But if you know me, like I'mma have fun always, but like I'mma always be in control. And that's besides the point, but but y'all will figure that out. But anyway.

10:02 Okay. All right. Week six, Jaguars away. Yes. Yes. Pull up to the stadium. Normal routine. Y'all know how it is. Like, got to go to the bathroom before the game. And you know that bathroom's

10:17 got to And you know that bathroom's going to be a nightmare the longer you wait.

10:22 Oh, for sure. In multiple ways. So, I get up in there. I get up in there. I'm one of the first people to get in the locker room. I'm like, "Bet, I'm going to go do my thing." Whatever.

10:30 Yeah, man. Do my thing, dude. AJ, you're hilarious. Get down to the bathroom. Big big guy. Big guy. Y'all know how it is in this stall. I go to like lean forward and sit back, crack my head on this hook

10:48 THAT'S LIKE ON THE BACK OF THIS WALL, BRO. YEAH. And it's one of those moments where like you you kick your dresser like something in the house and you're like mother like you know what I'm saying like

11:00 yeah I sit down I sit down blood rushing down my my head. NO I'M LIKE YO. So I get up

11:11 don't do my business. I get up and like my teammates know me. I'm like like [ __ ] Where's the training room? Like the [ __ ] I just split my head open bro. I'm like looking around the training room, bro. Finally make the training room. I get up in there.

11:26 They're obviously like, "Bro, what just happened?" And I'm like trying to elaborate to them. I'm trying to get ready for the game. There's blood rushing down my face. The next thing they hit me with is

11:36 we're going to have to cut your hair. I'm like, "Not the not the lettuce, bro. Anything but the anything but the lettuce.

11:46 I just got it trimmed. Are you kidding me?" Yeah. Yeah. They they they cut out this little patch, which I still lowkey have a little bald spot.

11:54 No stitches. Thank god. Thank god no stitches. We put a piece of gauze in it. I wear a I wear a skull cap. I go back to that same stall.

12:04 You got to finish the business. Finish my business in that stall just to let that stall know it's not going to have power over me. And then

12:13 assert my dominance. Yeah. To let that stall know who the [ __ ] had to let it go. Captain Hook.

12:19 Had to let the Stall know the Barnard was there and then uh went out, won the game, had my season high and receiving yards basically off one catch that

12:33 and we won the game and I cracked my head open and that's it. Captain Hook. CAPTAIN HOOK. THERE WE GO, BABY.

12:41 CRAZY. That's so crazy, dog. But y'all can only imagine like just getting in that frame of mind for the game and next thing you know you just cut your head open and just blood. I was like, "Bro, like

12:51 what are we doing?" So it was epic. I've only known one story from that. In college, we had a guy, I won't say his name, everybody from the university will know him, but he would bash his head through the drywall right before the game. We'd all assimilate in this like one area. He took his helmet off.

13:07 One guy. Yeah. And he would bang it and there were just wall holes in all the walls. Well, we go we go we go to the uh the bowl game in CA in Canada, the International Bowl, and my my guy goes to do it again and he hits a stud AND GUESSES THE TIE your head.

13:28 No, he couldn't play. Couldn't play in the game. He didn't play. Couldn't play.

13:33 Damn, dude. I figured that that would be the guy that'd be like, "Hey, I'm still playing." But no,

13:38 I think he wanted to. They didn't let him. Of course. He definitely wanted to. He definitely wanted to. Everyone knows that guy.

13:45 Yeah, exactly. You need one of them on the team. And if you're from Cleveland, you may or may not have been that guy. I've been there. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There you go.

13:53 I've been there before. I've been there. All right. One more. One more before we let you go. We got to ask about this quote. Blocking for Kenneth Walker. All right. Grind meat, carry water. We get it done in the trenches, baby.

14:05 All right. Now, that's a [ __ ] banger right there. Where did this come from? This sounds like something out of like Keanu Reeves. This sounds like something like I would have heard in like the replacements or something like that.

14:15 Bro, like you guys said, like sometimes the boys need a little pick me up on offense.

14:20 I play tight end. I'm next to O line. Like I kind of got my cred for being a blocker even though you got you know. Hell yeah. I get after in the trenches and I love my O line. I love running the rock and I I play to Michigan and we run the piss out of the ball.

14:33 Yeah. And when you're wearing on a team, you're grinding freaking meat. Uh when it comes down to the the end of the game, you need a four-minute drill. Grind meat. So it just became like some of the guys at first, you know how some of the guys are, I'm like, man, let's grind this meat. Grind meat, carry water. So it just became a thing and like the O line loved it.

14:54 For 60 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE, we're about to [ __ ] grind this goddamn meat, goddamn it, for the [ __ ] Super Bowl.

15:00 I love it. We're about to grind meat and just run the piss out of the bowl and just bro like Yeah. So that's what it became and I feel like everyone knows the the saying like chop wood carry water. So it just became grind meat carry water and uh that's just the mentality that the Hawks play with. Like we we play bully ball. We want to get after in the trenches and

15:19 that's what it is. [ __ ] it. I love it. I'm stealing it too. I love it. Grind me.

15:24 Oh yeah. Grind meat, dude. AJ, not enough time with your dog, but we're going to let you go, bro. I know you got some celebrating to do, bro. It's so such a [ __ ] honor to be able to get you on the pod. You already know. Northeast Ohio ball player, bro. Since I met you, I knew you were going to [ __ ] keep doing great things, man. So happy for you, bro.

15:43 I appreciate that, bro. We got to we got to tap in. I just want to pick your brain on some on some ball and obviously, you know,

15:49 talk talk ball and all that. So, great to meet you, too, Jason. Appreciate you guys having me on here, man. It's been an honor and got a lot of love for you guys man.

15:56 Honor's all ours. Congratulations, brother. Appreciate you guys. Captain Hook. Captain,

16:00 ladies and gentlemen. Yes, sir.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "A.J. Barner on 'Captain Hook' Nickname and His Super Bowl LX Touchdown Catch"?

A.J. Barner (Guest), Jason (Guest).

What is "A.J. Barner on 'Captain Hook' Nickname and His Super Bowl LX Touchdown Catch" about?

A.J. Barner, a tight end from Aurora, Ohio, reflects on his Super Bowl LX touchdown catch and discusses the dynamics of his team during the game. He shares the thrill of scoring the only touchdown and reveals insights about play communication and the excitement of playing at the highest level.

What is mentioned in this New Heights episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including AJ Barnyard Barer, Seattle Seahawks, University of Michigan, San Jose, Kenneth Walker. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "A.J. Barner on 'Captain Hook' Nickname and His Super Bowl LX Touchdown Catch"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 3,392 words in 93 timestamped sections.

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