I have never been a big fan of Tiki Barber. I initially found him to be a respectable player once he solved his fumbling issues (or rather, once Head Coach Tom Coughlin solved them). I'm still amazed that he was able to amass as many yards as he was (10,449; ranked 22nd on career rushing list) given that fumbling problem earlier in his career. Had he been in a rotational back system the way most NFL teams seem to operate now, that fumbling issue would have been a ticket to the bench or another team. In his last year playing with the Giants, some said he was a future Hall of Famer. I take huge issue with that. There are some better running backs ahead of him on that list (most notably Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis, two guys with much better stats and far more respected and liked). Barber's only chance to get into the NFL is going to be a senior nomination many years from now, and I still don't see him making it.
Barber retired at the age of 32, citing many reasons for ending his career at a time that most thought was premature. Then he proceeded to alienate former teammates by criticizing Coughlin and making fun of Eli Manning and his leadership skills (or lack thereof). Once leaving the field, he seemed destined for a television career. First, he was able to get a job at NBC reporting on football, and then followed that up as a reporter for the Today Show. However, those gigs were short-lived (in my opinion, Barber was a bit stiff and not very charismatic on the screen) and he was released from his contract.
Adding insult to injury, the New York Giants proceeded to win the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion the year after he retired. At the time, some of the Giants insinuated that the locker room was a more cohesive place after Barber retired. Perhaps, for the Giants, it was addition by subtraction?
Now Barber, after a divorce and not working for 3 years, is looking for attention again. Oops, my bad. He's looking to restart his NFL career because he realizes how important football is to him. I'm sorry, but I just can't see this as anything other than a money play. Maybe he wants a reality show, maybe he sees what Michael Strahan is doing on NFL Fox and realizes he has to get his name back out in the public again.
I just can't see it going anywhere. He was an unsympathetic character in his last year in the NFL, discussing retirement halfway through the season. He threw his former team under the bus to advance his (short-lived) broadcasting career. I'm sure someone will give him a pity tryout, but I would be shocked if he was on a roster when the season starts.
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