When called upon, former West Virginia Mountaineer Don Barclay has a pretty significant job within the world of sports:
Protect Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Of late, Barclay and the rest of the Packer offensive linemen have done well. The team has won eight straight games, including a stunning win over the Dallas Cowboys, and faces Atlanta at 3:05 p.m. Sunday in the National Football Conference championship.
Their show, of course, centers on Rodgers, the two-time league MVP. But Barclay, 6-foot-4, 304 pounds, could be called upon to help handle Atlanta's stunts and blitzes in front of the QB.
And if Barclay handles those as well as he has career obstacles, Green Bay fans will be pleased Sunday evening.
See, Barclay has quite a story. He wasn't all that highly recruited out of high school, yet he started for three years at WVU and was an all-Big East performer.
He wasn't highly regarded after college, yet made the Packers' roster as an undrafted free agent.
Then, after climbing the ladder in the NFL and earning starts, Barclay was injured and had reconstructive knee surgery that sidelined him for all of 2014.
He then had an admittedly tough 2015, but Green Bay re-signed him - and the move has paid off.
"The biggest thing is I've put in a lot of hard work over the past 10, 15 years, going back to high school," Barclay told the Gazette-Mail this week. "It's starting to pay off. You just keep riding it out, busting your tail and being thankful along the way."
Barclay, finishing his fifth season in the NFL, was recruited from Seneca Valley (Pennsylvania) High to WVU by Tony Gibson, who was working for Rich Rodriguez at the time.
"I committed pretty early, May of my junior year," Barclay said. "I had about eight offers on the table. A lot were from Big East schools. A couple were from the ACC. Others were from the MAC."
"Extremely hard worker," Gibson, now WVU's defensive coordinator with Dana Holgorsen, remembers. "Very athletic. Tough kid."
Barclay played for head coaches Rodriguez, Bill Stewart and Holgorsen in Morgantown.
"I think of the relationships and friends, the people I met, whether it be players, coaches or my wife [Brea]," he said. "It was a big part of my life. Some things I'll never forget ... winning a lot of games.
"To come in my freshman year and win the Fiesta Bowl, even though I was redshirted, was a great experience. And just to end it by winning the Orange Bowl [against Clemson] was a great way to go out."
Barclay is still based in the Morgantown area. He owns a home in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. His representation (Mike Simon and Greg Diulus of VMG) is based in Pittsburgh. And when not working with the Packers, Barclay trains at WVU. In fact, he dishes a lot of his post-surgery success to doing just that.
"Coming off the ACL, you're basically removed from football for a year as far as being on the grass, on the field," Barclay said. "At first it was tough to get back in the swing of things. I feel this past offseason, working with Mike Joseph and the [WVU] strength coaches, really helped get my functional strength back."
Understand that Barclay's situation wasn't optimal afterward. He wasn't a high-round draft pick. Toss in the fact that he was injured.
"It was definitely a bump in the road," Barclay said. "It was something to get over and go through. It took a lot of hard work to get back to where I'm at. The good thing is the surgery is pretty common nowadays. It's not like it was 20, 30 years ago with ACLs."
Noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews worked on Barclay in Florida. Yet when the offensive lineman returned to Green Bay, he didn't return to his prior form. It was reported he gave up a team-high nine sacks in 2015.
"That first year [after surgery] it's really tough to get back your old form," Barclay said. "I really feel like players, especially myself, really take off that second year after surgery. You really get comfortable after building strength back in your overall body."
Thankfully for him, head coach Mike McCarthy, the offensive coaches and personnel staffers had faith. He was signed for 2016.
"I started a decent amount of games my first couple years here," Barclay said. "I really understand the system and where they're coming from. I feel if you work hard here they give you a fair chance whether you're drafted or undrafted. They look for guys who do what they want."
Barclay also offers versatility. He's No. 2 at both guard positions and at center. He's played tackle. And against Dallas?
"I'm in on all field goals and kickoff returns," Barclay said. "In the Dallas game one of the linemen came out on a series and I got like three plays."
He's No. 67 if you're watching on Sunday. He knows, though, most will focus their attention on No. 12, Rodgers.
"His play speaks for itself," Barclay said of working with the QB. "If you could sum it all up, I'd say he's a true competitor. He's a great player that works really hard. A lot of that stuff seems like a fluke, but a lot of that he practices day in and day out.
"He's really competitive and wants to be great. At the same time, he's a really good guy. He takes care of us. He's in it for the team, not himself."
It will be interesting to see if Green Bay again signs Barclay after the season. He'll be an unrestricted free agent but, this time, one coming off a better season.
"He's crisper. He's stronger. Playing with a better base," said Packers offensive line coach James Campen during the season.
Of course, the Packers have been crisper too of late. Coming from 4-6 to this point is a heck of a story itself.
"Every team has its bumps in the season," Barclay said. "You have to deal with it. In the NFL teams don't go undefeated like in college. You have to get over those bumps and find your niche. You have to find what will make you successful and get to that."
Of that, Don Barclay is very well versed.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.