Anthony Barr
Getty
Anthony Barr called it a career on Monday.
Former Minnesota Vikings star and four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr is calling it a career after 10 seasons in the league.
Barr, 33, announced his retirement on Monday at a press conference. He played for the Vikings from 2014 to 2021, followed by one season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and a final season with the Vikings in 2023.
“It’s important for me to retire as a Viking because I am a Viking,” Barr told Vikings.com’s Lindsey Young.
Barr emerged as a prep football star in California at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, and he then became a top-tier collegiate player for the UCLA Bruins. He earned All-American honors as a senior with 10.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss.
Minnesota took him with the No. 9 pick in 2014, though he admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the snow at first. He didn’t just have to live with winter; Barr had to play in it, too, since the Vikings played home games at the University of Minnesota’s outdoor stadium for two years during the construction of US Bank Stadium.
“But it ended up working out,” Barr said as transcribed by Young. “Now I actually love the snow more than I do the heat, so that’s kind of changed, being a Cali boy. Now I’m, like, full Minnesota.”
Barr became a defensive force as he tallied 554 tackles, 18.5 sacks, 41 tackles for loss, five interceptions, eight forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, and 32 pass deflections. He made four straight Pro Bowls along the way between 2015 and 2018.
Injuries Impacted Anthony Barr’s Career
Anthony Barr
GettyAnthony Barr was a force for the Vikings between 2014 and 2021.
Barr dealt with his share of injuries, from a knee injury in 2014 to another knee injury and a hamstring injury in 2021. His injury challenges continued in Dallas with another hamstring injury when he played just 14 games that season.
Barr’s return to Minnesota in 2023 consisted of time on the practice squad and just four games played and one tackle, and a fumble recovery to go with it. He didn’t play at all in the 2024 season.
“I truly left everything out on that field,” Barr said. “I didn’t even necessarily have my best game, but I was out there, honestly, on one leg almost. That’s kind of how that whole season was for me; it was a battle to play every weekend. But I felt like I owed it to myself, to my team.”
“It’s football. It’s what I signed up for,” he added. “It’s like in the morning, if you don’t feel like going to do a workout, that’s when you need to do it. Those moments are what start building resilience and character — and that’s the mindset I had. ‘This is my job, and if I’m able to walk, I’m gonna try to play.’ That was important to me.”
Anthony Barr Made an Impact Beyond Football
Off the field, Barr and his mother, Lori, started the Raise The Bar nonprofit in 2016 to help single parents earn higher education degrees. Barr also worked with single mothers and youth off the field through the Jeremiah Program, which also serves single mothers and their children.
“This is the team that gave me an opportunity. They let me come in and be my authentic self, while also expecting and demanding a lot from me,” Barr said of his time with the Vikings. “It was a two-way street, and I think, for the most part, I held up my end of the bargain; and they did as a franchise, as well.”