Tar Heels' Barth diversifies

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina kicker Connor Barth may have cut his long surfer-dude locks over the summer, but he can't hide the fact that he's still pretty outrageous.

After all, it's screen-printed on the front of his favorite shirts.

The sure-footed senior -- who boasted the only perfect field goal percentage in the nation last season -- has added a new side venture to his quest to help rebuild the Tar Heels, then play in the NFL: a budding T-shirt business tentatively called "Outrageous Clothing."

"I grew up by the beach, and I've always worn the Hurley [brand], the Billabong, the Volcom, and they have really cool artwork on their shirts, and I've been really intrigued by that," said Barth, who is from Wilmington and hopes to combine resources with teammates Chase Rice, Cameron Sexton and Ryan Baucom. "I'm not a big artist, but I've been tooling around with some designs the last couple of years I've been in college."

The result is a logo that looks like a "whacked-out musical note" graphically intertwined with the word "Outrageous" -- an adjective that describes the images on the shirts, Barth insists, and not necessarily his character.

"It fits the shirts, but it fits Connor too," said Rice, a linebacker and management major. "He's from the beach, so he acts crazy. If it wasn't for football, he'd probably break all the bones in his body because he loves his longboard."

While Barth's dream of kicking in the pros has kept him away from dangerous waves lately, his love of surfing has inspired his "Outrageous" doodles since he was a sophomore. Still, the T-shirts didn't become a realistic business idea until last year, when Barth completed a project in his communications persuasion class detailing the steps it takes to get a loan to start a small business.

The research opened his eyes to how difficult such a venture would be, but it also intrigued him enough to pay $364 over the summer to have 24 shirts printed in Wilmington. He used only two of his seven designs, opted for a 50 percent cotton/ 50 percent polyester blend, and chose shades varying from white to purple to dark green.

There are still plenty of details to work out, such as how to process orders and what will sell best and where. So far, he has sold 18 shirts, at $15 each, to family and friends, and he has given away several others -- including a turquoise one to coach Butch Davis, who is a fan.

"I absolutely do like it," Davis said, grinning. "I'm trying to figure out if I can buy stock in the company; it's liable to blow up. That's how Under Armour started."

Barth and his three teammates plan to order a bigger batch soon, with hope that word-of-mouth from friends and family will pique interest. But more expansive marketing plans (including a Web site, more colors and more designs) are on hold until after football season -- partly because they want to concentrate on winning games, partly because their athletic affiliation limits what they can do.

NCAA rules allow student-athletes to start businesses, but they can't use their names, likenesses or their association to the team to promote the project (although informational newspaper articles are OK).

Barth plans to graduate in December, which should give him more time to concentrate on the project while training for the NFL combine and meeting with GMs (the reason for his "grown-up" haircut, he said).

"Football is definitely my priority," said Barth, who had a career-best 54-yarder last year. "But this is something we eventually think could be a success. ... And if nothing else, we end up with a bunch of Outrageous T-shirts."