Jim Gehman

When the Eagles signed Allen Barbre in January 2013, they were getting an offensive lineman who had experience.

Everything from making the Green Bay Packers as a fourth-round draft pick from Division II Missouri Southern State University to being waived four times by three different teams: the Packers, Miami Dolphins, and Seattle Seahawks to starting seven consecutive games at right tackle for the Packers in 2009.

Even though Barbre was joining the Eagles at a time when they didn't have a head coach between when Andy Reid left and Chip Kelly arrived Philadelphia was a fresh start and a place where he wanted to be.

"We had kind of thought, between me and my agent, that it was going to be a good fit for us. They were the first ones to come to the table, and we decided to go with them," Barbre says. "When I showed up, I was like third- or fourth-string, and that was kind of where I was when we started the offseason workouts.

"When we got to the OTAs, I was able to slowly work up from the third- or fourth-team to second-string. But they had a pretty good starting group. The whole left side of the line (with Jason Peters and Evan Mathis) were Pro Bowlers, so I knew I probably wasn't going to cut that."

While all the Eagles were learning their new coach's hurry-up, no-huddle offense, Barbre was concentrating on the responsibilities of both tackle and both guard positions. He did so effectively and became the O-line's most reliable reserve.

"I liked it just because there were some good things about it," Barbre says. "But it was definitely tough if you weren't successful. If you went three-and-out a couple times, it put your defense in a bad position. So you had to stay on top of your game, and you had to be in shape.

"I always felt more comfortable on the left side. But probably the reason I stayed around for a long time in my career was the fact that I could play multiple positions."

Barbre started at one of those positions, right tackle, in the 2014 season opener against Jacksonville. It, however, didn't end well. While the Eagles won the game, they lost Barbre for the rest of the year when he broke his right ankle.

"I was next in line to play. I earned that spot, I guess you could say," Barbre says. "I was just running across the field trying to block a guy and I put my foot in the ground to plant and change direction, and then it just popped."

Did the unexpected time off the field offer Barbre an opportunity to just watch and learn the nuances of Kelly's offense better?

"No, not really," he says. "When you're hurt, you're just so disconnected with that part of it, the game, for a little while. You're just rehabbing and trying to get back. And after I got going, I felt like Chip's offense was not overly complicated to learn. There weren't a lot of adjustments. Learning all three positions (tackle, guard, and center), once you kind of understood that, I felt like it was not bad."

Back at 100 percent, Barbre was in the starting lineup again for the 2015 season opener. Only this time, it wasn't because he "was next in line to play," it was because he had earned his way to be at the front of the line, as the Eagles' first-string left guard.

"It was definitely nice to just be able to play one position and be comfortable there," Barbre says. "That was definitely big. I had never been able to do that in the NFL, so it was really nice for me."

A starter there that season and the next, Barbre was traded to Denver for a conditional draft pick in 2017, leaving Philadelphia after four seasons.

"I loved playing football there. It was just good to me," Barbre says. "The coaching staff was good. I truly really appreciated (Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Coach (Jeff) Stoutland, the way he coaches. There were different guys that maybe were on the bubble, or struggling at one place and coming there and seeing success. I think he's one of the best coaches in the NFL."

And the Eagles fans ...

"They are die-hard, ruthless, blue-collar fans that just love their team," Barbre says. "When you're the home team, it's a great feeling. It was pretty awesome. I just appreciated their fans, and I loved playing there for them."

Leaving the game in 2018 after one season with the Broncos in 10 years in the NFL, Barbre loves what he's now doing back home in Southwest Missouri with his wife, Callie, and their sons: Knox and Beau.

"Before I retired, I was buying ground and just kind of working on it," Barbre says. "Improving ground is something I enjoyed in my free time, running skid steers and heavy equipment, cleaning them up. And then I started to do a little bit more ground and I thought, 'If I'm going to keep buying ground and doing this, I'm just going to go and get my real estate license.'"

Two years ago, Barbre became an agent for Midwest Land Group.

"I had found that company and reached out to them. And the more I talked to them, it just felt like it was a great place to be. Just kind of what I believed in," Barbre says. "So that's the place I decided to work with. And I really enjoy it. It kind of just suits me as a person.

"I really appreciate land and I've already fulfilled my dream, I have a farm. And I just kind of thought, 'What would be better than to help other people fulfill their dream and find them a farm? Or to help somebody if they need to sell a farm?'"

Raising Angus and Simmental cattle and crops on his own dream farm, just as he enjoyed working in the trenches as a player, Barbre enjoys working in the fields as a farmer.

"I like running the equipment, baling my own hay. I enjoy all of that," he says. "And I enjoy raising quality beef. I don't want to put a product out there that's not the best it can be, the best I can do. I want cattle to perform well on grass. I don't want to be feeding them grain all the time. Those are just the small things I strive to do in my operation.

"I feel like I'm truly blessed just with the opportunities I've had in my life and blessed to have a beautiful family, two boys and a wife and our health. And just the opportunities we have with the farm, I really appreciate that. I feel blessed to have it."