Alex Barron (American football)

Alex Benjamin Barron (born September 28, 1982) is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a member of the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for Florida State University. He was selected with the 19th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.

Early years
Barron was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He attended Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, and was a two-sport star in football and basketball. In football, he was named an All-American by both PrepStar and Football News, ranked the Number 3 lineman in the nation by PrepStar, named to the All-South team by the Orlando Sentinel, and selected as Jeff Whittaker's Deep South Recruiting Guide South Carolina Player of the Year.

College career
Barron attended Florida State University, where he played for the Florida State Seminoles football team. As a junior in 2003, he was recognized as consensus first-team All-American. As a senior in 2004, Barron was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, and again earned consensus All-America first-team honors. He graduated with a social science degree.

St. Louis Rams
Barron was the nineteenth pick overall by the St. Louis Rams in the 2005 NFL Draft. On August 14, 2005, Barron signed a five-year, $9.2 million contract with the Rams with escalators that could take the value to over $11 million. The contract featured $5.5 million in guaranteed money, not including the signing bonus of $1 million. He would be a starter for the Rams from his rookie season. During his five years with the Rams, Barron was the most penalized player in the NFL next to tackle Flozell Adams with more than 70 calls against him. In a 35-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Barron's poor play resulted him being benched by the Rams staff. Barron became notorious for his false start and holding penalties. In 2009, Barron led the league with 7 holding penalties.

Dallas Cowboys
Barron was traded from the St. Louis Rams to the Dallas Cowboys for linebacker Bobby Carpenter on May 10, 2010. Barron's Cowboy career got off to an inauspicious start. In his first game, the Cowboys appeared to have come back from a 13-7 deficit on a touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Roy Williams on the final play against the Washington Redskins on opening day, September 12, 2010. Barron was flagged for holding and, because the penalty was called against the offense, the game was over with the Cowboys losing 13-7.

New Orleans Saints
On August 3, 2011, Barron signed with the New Orleans Saints. On August 18, Barron was put on injured reserve and will miss the entire 2011 season. He was released with an injury settlement on October 22.