Loading ...Fans of all New York/New Jersey area teams are widely known as rabid fans. They pull no punches and never hesitate to share their opinions on team or player performance; they also never hesitate to share their thoughts on opposing teams or players. It's just in their nature to be the way they are, and athletes either love them or hate them. And that's why it came as no real surprise that former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber was loudly booed after being inducted into the Ring of Honor last year.
After criticizing quarterback Eli Manning, head coach Tom Coughlin and leaving his pregnant wife for a younger NBC intern, he was vilified immediately and became public enemy #1 in New York. Unfortunately for Barber, time has not healed all wounds, and despite his complete 180 on Manning, fans have been anything but quick to forgive. His twin brother and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback, Ronde Barber, feels that's just the way New York fans are … and there's no way around it.
"It is what it is," Ronde Barber told USA Today Sports. "New York fans love to beat their stars down. It comes with the territory. In that city especially, it's a very thin line between fame and infamy. You just kind of roll with it."
Still, history should be kind to Tiki Barber and everything that he did on the field. After all, if Lawrence Taylor gets a pass, why not Tiki? It's something Ronde also believes will come with time.
"At the end of the day, he's still the Giants all-time leading rusher," Ronde Barber said. "He was an iconic player when he was there. They loved him. They'll love him again."
It should be noted that Ronde now owes Antrel Rolle royalties for using the phrase "at the end of the day."
In all seriousness, Ronde is probably spot-on with his view of the situation. It's going to take some time -a lot of time- but eventually New York fans will either learn to forgive or just simply forget what Barber did and said off the field that had them angry in the first place. After all, save for his personal relationship decisions, Barber said nothing others in the media hadn't or won't eventually say. Controversy equals ratings and when you're attempting to kick-start a new career, you want as much attention as you can get. In the end, that didn't work out in Barber's favor and he paid for it. Dearly. But it's not really worth holding a tremendous grudge over, and certainly not worth overshadowing the 10 years of dedicated service he gave the New York Football Giants.
The organization has forgiven him and the fans should too.
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Nah, Barber is still different.
LT makes decisions I wouldn’t and lives a self destructive life style. But I don’t think that using drugs and prostitutes makes him an unlikable jerk.
Tiki on the other hand threw basically everybody that helped make his career under the bus (outside of the Duke). He doesn’t get the same pass as outside observers on Eli because he was there. He can’t blame his position on ignorance and only have that goofy look you see on TV to judge by.
Tiki also wrote a book that could easily have been titled “Why I’m better than everybody else in the world and how I can tell you about it with a straight face while referring to myself as “humble” every other sentence….did I mention I’m super intelligent too, but also very humble? Oh yeah, I’d also like to remind you that you’re supposed to refer to me as a Renaissance man…a humble one. The book.”
Then he left his pregnant wife for a star struck little girl.
Nope, sorry Ronde. I will never marginalize what Tiki did for the Giants on the field. He was the best Giants RB ever. He might have been the best RB in the league over his final three seasons. He’s a borderline HoFer, even with his abbreviated career and struggles early…some of his numbers match up incredibly well with the all time greats.
But that’s got nothing to do with why I don’t like him…I don’t like him because of who he is as a person. He doesn’t deserve my adulation. He deserves to know just how worthless his life has been were it not for all of the people (fans included) that he showed such contempt for before life without them suddenly hit him in the mouth.
‘I don’t think that using drugs and prostitutes makes him an unlikable jerk.’ Wow. So, underage girls, hurting his family contributing to the drug problem and prostitution (bondage, slavery, violence, guns, etc) doesn’t constitute someone as, at minimum, a jerk?
I will never look at LT the same way again… but Tiki and LT will remain terrific in a uniform in my eyes… off the field, LT is a felon and Tiki is just a jerk. BIG difference.
Reese is still not bringing Tiki back despite re-signing Plax!!
Has anyone claimed David douglass as their G101 HOF candidate?
No, New York fans just love to beat down their stars who are d-bags.
Tiki also wrote a book that could easily have been titled “Why I’m better than everybody else in the world and how I can tell you about it with a straight face while referring to myself as “humble” every other sentence….did I mention I’m super intelligent too, but also very humble? Oh yeah, I’d also like to remind you that you’re supposed to refer to me as a Renaissance man…a humble one. The book.”
JFUNK!!!! THAT SH*T IS HILARIOUS!!!! +1
I refuse to boo Tiki. I just might not be as vocifierous in my cheer as a guy like L.T. Hell, we go nuts for Bavaro. He left and eventually landed on the Eagles.
Since G101 just retweeted a link to their Tyler Sash column, let me just say I couldn’t agree more with this:
kujo says:
August 2, 2012 at 9:35 AM
First off, when Coughlin has your back as strongly as he does Sash’s, you know to things:
1) The player is not “guilty”
2) The player is not going to be cut, as some folks on here have suggested about Sash.
On the topic at hand, if this current Giants team had Tiki Barber on it, they’d be one of the greatest offenses in NFL history.
* Paging Mr. David Wilson, please pick up the white courtesy phone. We have a call for a Mr. David Wilson … *
Dan just tweeted a quote from Eli about the Jets. Here’s my question:
Why are the Giants so concerned about the Jets? Why do they keep making comments? This is really unlike them.
And I like it. It tells me these guys have found a way to have a chip on their shoulders, which is important for this team in particular (for whatever reason). It is clear the team feels slighted and should be getting the lion’s share of post-championship coverage.
(Speaking of championships, had a Steelers fan badmouthing the Giants getting the season opener, then after some back and forth, told me to get back to them when we have 6 rings. I said I didn’t have their phone number in 1990, and unlike in Pittsburgh, we don’t ignore our franchise’s first 50 years because it was worthless. Moral of the story: this franchise should be treated with the history and prestige that the Packers get.)
They’re asked and they respond.
Apparently we’re not the only fans kvetching about our team’s injuries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQjXLmcXRxE&feature=g-all-u
NSFW