AJ Barner (center) poses with his former Aurora football coaches during his recent visit back home.
Photo: Lydia Abbuhl, LA Photo & Design

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Before officially making his home out west in Seattle, AJ Barner found time to come back to first home in Aurora.

The Greenmen football alumni, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks after a national-championship season with the University of Michigan, recently visited his high school.

While there, he met with current high school principal Mike Hayes and recorded one of Hayes’ popular social-media “Rapid Fire” set of interview questions.

Aurora High School graduate AJ Barner speaks to the current group of Greenmen football players during a recent visit back home.
Photo: Lydia Abbuhl, LA Photo & Design

Barner also delivered a special message to the graduating Class of 2024 that was included on the commencement’s live stream.

Barner was also able to meet with his former high-school coaches, including head coach Bob Mihalik, along with assistants Jim Slagle, Victor Ricketts, Brendan Gallagher and Jay Price.

Current members of the Mihalik’s football team were able to meet Barner, who talked to the group about his time at Aurora and its importance to his development. He spoke about how “lucky they are to begin a great school system with a supportive community.”

Barner is the second player in Aurora football history to be drafted into the NFL.

The first came back in 1970, when Tom Curtis (Class of 1966), who, ironically, also played at Michigan, was drafted by the Baltimore Colts.