He attended John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury and completed a one year enrollment at the private Cheshire Academy in that state.
[1] Although he had already grown to a height of 6'6" and a weight of 275 pounds in high school, Barzilauskas was not widely sought after by collegiate football programs — a fact which he later attributed to the weak status of his academy team.
[2] He was recruited by head coach John Pont to Indiana University Bloomington, where he played defensive tackle on the Hoosiers' varsity football team from 1970 to 1973.
[4] As such he was the third-highest professional draft pick in the history of Indiana University — status which remained true at the time of his death.
Barzilauskas quickly gained a reputation for brashness as a professional rookie, declaring in one early interview that "There are certain things that have disappointed me about the NFL.
[5] Barzilauskas played for the Jets until the trade to the Green Bay Packers on June 6, 1978, for fourth- and fifth-round selections (98th and 125th overall — Johnnie Lynn and Stan Blinka respectively) in the 1979 NFL draft.
[10] The injury resulted in nerve damage, with numbness extending from his neck to his fingers and leaving him unable to lift his right arm fully two months after the incident.
His career ended after having played 70 NFL contests, during which he recorded a total of 16.5 sacks from the defensive tackle position.