New York Giants legend Tiki Barber on Barkley, Shurmur, NFC East
By Curt Macysyn
On his relationship with New York Giants fans
Since retirement Tiki Barber has had a somewhat complicated relationship with New York Giants fans. As a media personality, it’s incumbent upon him to formulate and vocalize an opinion. Sometimes that opinion, caused fans to misinterpret honesty for lack of loyalty. Still, Barber didn’t back away from what he said.
"“When I left the game, I didn’t leave it as a former player, I wanted to jump right into my career. Back in 1999, I started working for WFAN doing overnights with Joe Beningo. At that time, I learned how to talk and be a New Yorker, and most importantly, have an opinion.” “After I retired, I didn’t want the ‘lag’ to happen. This guy’s a homer. He’s only going to talk positively about the Giants, and I just said it as I did, as I felt. That’s probably how most people felt [about my comments], but because some Giants fans looked at me as a traitor, it created a negative backlash.” “If you’re going to accuse me of being opinionated, then I’m a New Yorker, and I’m guilty as charged.”"
Surely, there will be plenty of No. 21 jerseys in the crowd when Tiki Barber gets the call from Canton, OH and the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Perhaps, his brother, Ronde, gets a call at the same time.