Tiki Barber has mixed emotions about NFC title tilt
Remember Tiki Barber? Smart, smallish fellow with a talent for carrying footballs through forests of large, angry men and a habit of speaking his mind in public?
The Giants’ all-time leading rusher has been maintaining a low profile during the playoffs, speaking each week on his own Sirius Satellite Radio show and not much else, other than a brief, group interview before being honored at a dinner in Manhattan Jan. 11.
WFAN sought to get Barber on late in the week, but it didn't happen. He did, though, speak to PBS’s Charlie Rose for a show that debuted Friday night.
He spoke of rooting for the Giants but also anticipating the potential drama of a Packers-Patriots Super Bowl, and he suggested new GM Jerry Reese did a better job in the draft than his predecessor, Ernie Accorsi, had done in recent seasons.
Here are some of the highlights:
Rose: “You have no regrets [about retiring]? This team may go to the Super Bowl!’’
Barber: “I have no regrets. They may [go to the Super Bowl]. You know what, I’m proud of them. They’ve done a lot and accomplished a lot.’’
Rose: “You’re not worried that they can make people forget Tiki?’’
Barber: “I hope they do. That’s what it’s all about.’’
Rose: “Do you have any mixed emotions about this [NFC Championship Game]?’’
Barber: “I’m not against the Giants . . . Obviously, I support the Giants because that was my career for 10 years and I have a lot of loyalties there. But the magic of seeing the aged vet and the up-and-coming supposedly best ever, it’s just a [good] story.’’
Barber on the building of the Giants: “It’s funny, Ernie Accorsi retired at the end of last season, as I did, and Jerry Reese comes in as the general manager and his very first draft does something that hasn’t been done in New York in a lot of years, which is get some young players who can perform immediately. Jerry Reese deserves a lot of credit for that.’’
Rose: “So you’re predicting who wins?’’
Barber: “I’m not predicting anybody. I’m a Giants fan. So I’ll support them. I’ll root for them.’’
Rose: “But if your team should somehow lose after a great season and certainly a great second half, you’ll be OK with Green Bay in the Super Bowl.’’
Barber: “I would. I like the great stories. Obviously, I’m at the 'Today' show now so the great stories are the ones that kind of catch my imagination, and Brett Favre playing in the Super Bowl in what could be his last season, you don’t know, but this could be his last game and he wins the Super Bowl, how great of a story is that? You can’t script it any better. You’ll talk about it the rest of your life if you watch it.’’
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Comments (11)
Bla bla bla Tiki...bla bla bla...
Phil: That's why he's keeping a low profile.
Tiki is a narcissistic ass! The Giants might have gone further last year if he had not made the whole season about him retiring.
Way to go, Tiki. Sell out to the media and ruin all the good will you had as a Giant. Don't hold your breath waiting for your uniform to be retired.
Yes. Tiki keeps a low profile like a fat kid likes vegetables.
Get over yourself, Tiki. When people are finally tired of your preening and BS, there's a future as a dental model for you. The one drawback is you have to keep your mouth shut.
*smile*
Oh shut it Tiki
Tiki cant stand the fact that the Giants might wind up in the Super Bowl without him !
I'm truly sorry I always thought it was Shockey and Michael Strahan stabbing Coughlin in the back instead of this tool.
Our local morning sports talk host had an interview earlier this week with Tom Callahan, who followed Arcosi around last season and wrote the resulting book about his general management. Among other things, he referred to Barber's departure, in essence, as addition by subtraction.
The interview is here. You might want to listen to it. Tiki might not want you to:
http://eod.liquidviewer.com/wgr-od/wgr/20080118_callahan.wma
I thought I was the biggest Packer fan in NJ/NYC area. I am wrong. Tiki is rooting for the Packers so hard. There is no way he wants to see the Giants so successful with him gone.
Remember after week 2, when they were 0-2 and Madden was calling for him to go play again. Tiki was on top of his self absorbed world.
Maybe Tiki can come watch the game with my wife and I and are two small sons.
Many people, whether fans or the media, believed last season if this team were an army platoon the team would have committed fraticide on the coach, if they didn't already attempt it. Turns out it seems the team, especially Antonio Pierce, Eli Manning, and Plaxico Burress, would have committed the fraticide on Tiki. Tiki is the Gregg Marmalade of this whole deal.
Hey Tiki, how about a team that nobody thought would make it this far without their best player, come together after the media and a bigmouth made them everybody's joke, and have made a history? Is that not a story that captures the imagination?