(born on
January 7 ,
1979 in
Pittsburgh ,
Pennsylvania ) is a player in the
National Football League . He is currently the starting running back for the
San Francisco 49ers . He graduated from the
University Of Pittsburgh and was drafted in the 3rd round (80th overall) by the 49ers in the
2001 NFL Draft .
After enjoying a breakout 2003-2004 season behind a reliable run blocking line in which Barlow had a 5.1 yard per carry average and 1024 yards, the 49ers gave him the starting job by releasing
Garrison Hearst .
2004 -
2005 was an underacheiving year for Barlow, where he didn't reach the 1000 yard mark even though he was the primary back. At one point he was demoted to second string by Coach
Dennis Erickson in favor of
Maurice Hicks . In the
2005 NFL Draft the 49ers selected
Frank Gore to be the backup running back behind Barlow.
The 2005-2006 season seemed to mark a rebound in his running game. He had 420 yards on 102 carries for a 4.0 average through 7 games but finished the season with just 581 yards on 176 carries for only a 3.3 rushing average after missing the final 3 games of the season. While many blame Barlow for his underacheiving statistics, the San Francisco offensive line became one of the worst in the league after the 2003 season and seems to be largely behind Barlow's struggles.
At
Peabody High School in
Pittsburgh , Kevan Barlow ran for 3,121 yards, and 31 touchdowns, and received for 433 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a senior he had 3.5 sacks, 33 tackles, and one interception from the safety position. During his high school career, he was a two time All-City choice.
Kevan Barlow attended the
University Of Pittsburgh . While there he rushed 486 times for 2324 yards (4.78 yards per rush) and 20 touchdowns. He left school, being ranked 11th on the school's career scoring list with 144 points.
