After the action has come to a close on Saturdays and game day is over with, many college football players head to their locker and check their cellphones. Their phones are filled with a litany of emails, voicemails, text messages, Facebook comments or even news stories about them. Oregon junior running back Kenjon Barner is no exception; messages come from family, friends, former Oregon student-athletes, respected coaches and analysts, even people he doesn’t know. But there is only one text message that consistently makes an impact. It is the same words, after every game, from a 12-year-old boy.
The message asks, “Did you play every down like it was your last?”

John and Stephanie Riley are both from Eugene. The couple has been together for 15 years and has been Oregon football season ticket holders since 1997. They have two children, Mikayla, 9, and Brayden, 12. The Rileys love football, family and their faith.
In the spring of 2011, John and Stephanie were introduced to Barner through a family friend at a meeting of the Collegiate Christian Fellowship in Eugene. John approached Barner and after a casual conversation and asked if he had anyone in the area that was looking out for him, helping him make good decisions or was there to help guide him. When Barner replied no, John asked if the two of them could get to know each other better over dinner sometime.
“At that dinner I told him that I had no agenda and I wasn’t there to meet him as a football player,” John said. “My goal is simply making sure that you are accounted for.”
John saw something in Barner that he believed to be special.
“For me it really clicked when I asked Kenjon what his relationship with his family was like. He said, ‘I love my family,’ and when I went to move on, he interrupted me and said, ‘No, you need to understand. I am in love with my family.’ I had never heard anybody say it that way in my life and I was really caught up in that and I thought, ‘Wow, this guy is something special and really someone to invest in.’”
Kenjon believed, too, that having a family outlet in Eugene would be something that could benefit him and the two agreed to begin meeting on a weekly basis.
Through his relationship with John, Barner met the rest of the Riley clan and has since become an equal part in their family.
“We trust Kenjon with our lives,” John said. “Kenjon’s character is one that is far greater than most 22-year-olds have. He is just a blast to be with.”
The Eugene-based Riley family is simply an extension of Kenjon’s already big family. His parents, Gary and Wilhelmenia Barner, have seven children — six boys and one girl — of whom Kenjon is the youngest.
“I love my family so much,” Kenjon said. “My parents are so great and when I am here in Eugene, the Rileys are a great stand-in.”

When Barner joined the Rileys, he became the second football player in the family. 12-year-old Brayden plays middle school football in Eugene and since Barner met Brayden, he’s attended all of his younger “brother’s” games.
Before every one of Brayden’s games, John gives his son something to think about before he takes the field. Before Brayden’s final home game last year, he was asked by his father to do something: to play every down as if it were his last.
After the game, as Barner and Brayden walked toward the parking lot, Barner was called over by former Oregon running back and NFL player Dino Philyaw.
Philyaw and Barner spoke face-to-face for 10 minutes while Brayden stood by Barner’s side intently listening to the advice the former Oregon tailback bestowed to the current one. Philyaw closed by telling Barner to play every down as if it was his last.
“I looked over at Brayden and he was looking at Kenjon, in awe that a former NFL pro was telling this current Oregon star, his friend, the same thing his dad had just told him,” John said.
To celebrate Brayden’s great game, the Rileys and Barner decided to go out for ice cream. Barner and Brayden rode together in Barner’s car and discussed the exchange of advice that had just occurred.
“I asked Brayden if he had played that game like it was his last,” Barner said. “He said that he didn’t, so I said we should make a pact. I said, ‘After every one of your games I will ask you if you gave it all you had, and you do the same for me.’ Now after every one of our games we talk and hold each other accountable.”

Barner and the Rileys now meet once or twice a week, for dinner, movie nights and other family outings, while the Rileys attend all of Kenjon’s home games.
The Rileys and Barner fit together naturally and both parties learn from and enjoy each other. The only argument they may have is who benefits more from the other’s company.
“I don’t think he could get more out of it than what our family does from him,” John said. “We think the world of him. When I lead him through scriptures or guide him with principles, the way he soaks it up, asks questions and applies it soon after, is amazing. It may be seen that I am mentoring him, but it is a two-way thing.”
Barner acknowledged that he has something to contribute to his second family but believes he is the bigger beneficiary in the relationship.
“I feel like I get more. There are many reasons, but I don’t have any family up here and to have a family like this to take me in, it makes me feel good,” Barner said. “I have always wanted a little brother and I have that now in Brayden and Mikayla and I get to play with them and talk to John and Steph. It is special and I feel at home.”
What Barner learns in his dealing with the Rileys benefits him not only in his daily and spiritual life but on the football field as well.
Immediately following every Oregon game, Barner can be seen on one knee with many Oregon players and coaches, leading the group in prayer.
“It is something that some people asked me to do and I am happy to do it,” Barner said.
There is no questioning that Barner is something exceptional on the field. In the past three years no other player, aside from star running back LaMichael James, has scored more points for the Ducks, as Barner has accounted for 27 touchdowns in his reserve role. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3378&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1550399&Q_SEASON=2011@@
But Kenjon Barner goes far beyond the accolades and stats that surround him as a college football player.
In speaking with his teammates, his coaches, people all around the University, it is tough to find someone who has something negative to say about Barner. He is a player who never turns down an autograph, accepts almost all appearance requests, attends local high school football games and is plainly a nice guy.
“We are proud of the man he is and the character he has,” John said. “We are proud parents.”