Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber announced earlier this year that he’s attempting an NFL comeback after a four-year absence. Warren Sapp, an old teammate of Tiki’s twin brother Ronde Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, thinks that’s a bad idea.
“No, stop it,” Sapp said on the The Rich Eisen Podcast, per USA Today. “Enough is enough. I didn’t think much of him when he did play.”
Sapp’s criticism of Tiki Barber stems from a propensity to fumble early in his career. And he felt it was disrespectful of Barber to criticize his quarterback, Eli Manning as well as coach Tom Coughlin, who worked with Barber to correct his fumbling problem, which he did, becoming the all time leading rusher for the Giants.
Michael Strahan, former New York Giants defensive end and teammate of Barber agrees with Sapp.
“If it comes to playing football, he can play,” Strahan said. “Now on the other end of it, I do believe that his job did change, ok, whatever. But you don’t ever lose the respect that you earned as a player for a rating for a television show.”
Strahan is skeptical of Barber finding a team this season because he believes Barber will be viewed by general managers as a liability in the locker room.
“His impact was to kind of throw some guys under the bus, including the coach who taught you how not to fumble, and a quarterback who was young and just needed to learn, and obviously a quarterback who’s quiet and not the rah-rah guy. Why would you do that?
Interestingly, Barber’s career as a broadcaster ended fairly quickly, while Strahan and Sapp have gone on to have a successful careers as an NFL analysts. In addition, the Giants won the Super Bowl the year after Barber left the team.
