Tuesday 3.8.2011 - Tiki Barber Un-Retiring..... aka, "I'm Broke and My TV Career Is Shot"
 - In one of those stories that is sad and interesting - in the way that we slow down to look at a traffic accident - unpopular former Giant Tiki Barber is coming out of retirement. One can only speculate the true reason behind this unlikely to be successful move, but you have to assume this is purely about Barber's financial situation, not his love of the game.
When Barber retired he was on top of his game, having run for 1600+ yards in his final season, an NFL record for last active season. He had a television career set having a stint with FOX and a new contract all lined up with NBC. He was good looking, smart, popular and looked ready to be the next big pro athlete turns media star. But then it all seemed to go poof.
He came out of the box swinging at the Giants and former teammates, especially Eli Manning and coach Tom Coughlin. The barbs seemed to be personal and were not well received amongst the Giants or Giants fans. The comments made Tiki a pariah at Giant Stadium, where he should be loved as an All-Time Giant, and foolish when the Giants won the Superbowl that same year. He followed that up by leaving his 8-months pregnant with twins wife for a 23-year old intern that had been his "babysitter". NBC promptly chose to un-renew his high profile contract citing morals clause. It has since been reported that his financial were so bad that he he was having trouble making divorce payments to his ex-wife.
"After seeing my brother still have fun at our age, it reignited the fire. I'm really looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get back to the level of where I was," Barber, who turns 36 in April, told FOXSports.com exclusively. "I started working out again recently. It kind of shocked myself. I still had a lot of the strength I had before. I'm really looking forward to making a return."
So with that being said, what is the market for a 35-year old former star running back who hasn't played a game in four years?
The Pros:
- He was the had over 2000 yards from scrimmage in his last season.
- Genetics - his twin brother Ronde is still doing well in the NFL.
- Healthy - he was healthy when he played and hasn't taken a hit in four years.
The Cons:
- Rust - He hasn't played or taken a hit in four years.
- Unpopular - His couple of years in broadcasting won't make him popular in any NFL clubhouse.
- Age - You can count on your fingers the number of great running backs over 35.
- Who'll want him - He's not going to be a feature back, so who would want to take on all the baggage... perhaps the Oakland Raiders or maybe the Eagles?
This will be an interesting story to follow. Now that Barber was sent the paperwork in to the NFL, the Giants will have to choose to sign or release him as his rights still belong to them. They have already announced that the plan to let him go and wish him well. Then we will have to wait for the NFL and the players to work out all their legal contact rumblings, the Tiki can sign with a team, if any team is interested. |
If you thought Jaimee Grubbs got a lot of attention for having an affair with Tiger Woods, wait until Google gets a hold of Johnson, a former co-worker of Barber's who has been described by the New York Post as "sexy" and "a model-thin bombshell." And Tiki broke the news to everyone in the classiest, most thoughtful way possible: via press release