CHARLOTTE, N. C. -- Michael Barrett was frustrated. The Michigan linebacker was fished out after almost three days and six-and-a-half rounds of silence during the NFL draft from a lake house his family rented in South Georgia. He was resolved to being an unrestricted free agent, already having discussed by phone a reunion with college coach Jim Harbaugh who, after the Wolverines won the national championship, left to turn around the Los Angeles Chargers.
But before Barrett made peace with the idea that no NFL team thought enough of his resume to overlook his 6-foot, 239-pound size and draft him, he stepped into the front yard, away from family and friends.
And he screamed.
"A couple of tears, a couple of screams,'' Barrett told ESPN.com last weekend during the Carolina Panthers' rookie minicamp. "When you're in that moment that everything in your life has built up to, and the thing you want to happen doesn't happen, it can get you upset.
"I'm the kind of person that doesn't say much. But I had to let a couple out.''
Then the phone rang.
It was Panthers first-year general manager Dan Morgan calling to tell Barrett he'd been taken with the 240th pick (Round 7) of the 257-pick selection process.
More tears.
And later, a bit of boasting that took Barrett outside his normal humble personality.
"I'm most definitely the steal of the draft,'' Barrett said with a smile. "Carolina got a great player, a great teammate, a great person, a heck of an athlete.
"I really like to say they got me on a sale.''
Barrett indeed was a bargain, based on the pre-draft rankings of ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller, who put Michigan's all-time leader in games played (64) at No. 153 overall.
Michael Barrett vs. Alabama is one of the best games I've seen a linebacker play this season. Oddly enough, Barrett vs. Rutgers in 2022 is up there too.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 31, 2024
Continue to think he's being slept on as a starting-caliber NFL linebacker.
Statistically, Barrett played much bigger than his size. His 65 tackles (including 3.5 for loss) in 2023 ranked second on the Wolverines, and he added five quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass breakups.
He proved durable, seeing game action in six seasons, while playing 1,875 snaps on defense and 634 on special teams.
Last season, Barrett hit a Maryland player so hard he cracked his helmet, which is now a part of Harbaugh's trophy case.
"That's football right there,'' Harbaugh said at the time.
Barrett exemplifies the kind of hard-nose player Morgan was during his seven-year career as an inside linebacker for the Panthers, the kind he was looking for in the draft. Barrett also has the kind of chip on his shoulder Morgan sought.
"I got a whole bag of chips, man,'' Barrett said.
That's because Barrett has spent most of his football career being told what he can't do because of his size.
"He has always been doubted,'' said his dad, Michael Barrett Sr. "They told him he couldn't be quarterback, and he came in and set all the records [at Lowndes High in Valdosta, Georgia]. They told him he can't play linebacker. Boom! He became an all-state linebacker.''
In high school, Barrett passed for 4,641 yards and 45 touchdowns and rushed for 2,632 yards and 38 touchdowns as a dual-threat quarterback.
Yet, when he got to Michigan, he had to prove himself on defense, playing a hybrid safety-outside linebacker position called "Viper,'' before being moved inside.
That's where his ability to drop into coverage and rush the passer flourished and how the Panthers plan to prepare him behind Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell in their 3-4 scheme.
"His instincts, his ability to communicate, really a sound football player,'' Carolina coach Dave Canales said. "I can see him learning everything he can from Shaq and Josey.''
Canales said measurables are why Barrett fell to the seventh round. And they are why, according to the Barretts, the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Chargers and two other teams were prepared to sign him if he went undrafted.
"He's definitely not the giant linebacker ... that people are used to seeing,'' Canales said. "First and foremost, football instincts, toughness, a guy you can rely on. Those are all the reports through our evaluation process.''
If Barrett makes it in the NFL, he wouldn't be the first undersized Carolina linebacker to succeed. Sam Mills (5-9, 229) was undrafted in 1981 and didn't play his first NFL regular-season game until 1986 with the New Orleans Saints after spending much of the previous four seasons in the USFL.
The player nicknamed "Field Mouse'' went on to become a five-time Pro Bowl selection, the last with Carolina in 1996, which at the time made him the oldest defender (37) ever selected to the all-star game. In 2022, he was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Mills remains the only player with a statue outside Carolina's Bank of America Stadium.
"I heard about his story when I first came in,'' Barrett said. "I just think about that self-motivation, that regardless of what everybody else says, what everybody else thinks, I know what I can do, I know the type of work I put in, the type of player I am, and I don't take no for an answer.''
Barrett Sr. will attest to that.
"You don't have to be the biggest on the field to play the game of football,'' he said. "You have had to have the heart. Mike's got that heart.''
Barrett also has a fierceness that appears on the field that admittedly "scares me sometimes,'' his father said with a laugh.
"When he gets on the field, it's like nothing can stop him,'' he said. "He's as humble and as quiet as there can be in person. On the field, he's mean.''
It was that on-the-field demeanor that came out on the final day of the draft when Barrett stepped outside, assuming he wouldn't be drafted.
"I always say give yourself 10 seconds, 10 seconds to get it all out, get all your emotions out, and then just move on,'' Barrett said. "That's football, your life. If I'm in a game and I f--- up, it is what it is, man. You can't control it no more.
"Get some quick yells out ... [he yells] ... and move on. Then make the most of it.''