http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...tiki-barber-5-reasons-team-should-just-say-no
Tiki Barber: 5 Reasons Team Should Just Say No
By Joe Iannello
(Featured Columnist) on August 22, 2011
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 36-year-old running backs and the NFL just don't mix. Someone needs to tell Tiki Barber that (again). Barber has worked out with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers but is yet to ink a contract with any team.
Tiki you are finished and you've been finished. For your sake and the sake of football fans everywhere, stay retired please.
Here are five reasons why NFL teams should stay away from Tiki Barber.
1. Four years is too long
Tiki Barber has been retired for four years from the game of football. He has worked as an analyst and that blew up in his face completely.
If Barber is signed to a NFL team the outcome would be very similar. We have seen Michael Vick return from football after two years of imprisonment and win the Comeback Player of the Year.
Don't let this fool you Mr. Barber, you are not Michael Vick and you have been retired for twice as long. Vick was eased back into football as the third QB of the Philadelphia Eagles and was able to get back into playing shape.
Barber would be expected to contribute on third downs and maybe more if a starter was injured. Four years away from the game means that the elusiveness and agility that once made Barber so great is gone.
2. 36 isn't the new 26
Fad's come and go in Hollywood seemingly every week where "Purple is the new pink" and "Skinny-jeans are cool again," but being 36 in the NFL just isn't cool.There is a reason that teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots begin cutting ties with their own players (see Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Richard Seymour, etc.) when they reach the age of 30.
They simply are on the downward track for their career and there is nothing can stop that slide when it starts. Barber was still an effective runner in his early-30's when he decided to retire but that was four years ago.
He is much older and has not had to train as extensively as he would have if he were still playing in the NFL. Tiki there is a reason that we don't see any 36-year-old running backs in the NFL anymore.
Players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever. That doesn't bode well for a guy that's been out of the game for so long.
3. What's left to prove?
Tiki Barber has 10,440 career rushing yards and 17,359 all-purpose yards. He may have had his best single-season ever when he ran for 1,662 yards the season before he retired.
He has made Pro-Bowl's and All-Pro teams. He has his health and has already earned enough money to support his children and his children's children for the rest of their lives.
What's left to prove Tiki? Coming back to play with your brother Rhonde might be "cool," but it doesn't get you any closer to the Super Bowl ring you covet. No team is guaranteed a Super Bowl and is it really worth pursuing at the risk of your future health?
4. Publicity Stunt
Tiki Barber left football to pursue a career in broadcasting and his wish was granted when he accepted a job with NBC. His broadcasting career was very short-lived when NBC fired him and a tabloid headline said he left his pregnant wife for a 22-year old NBC intern.
Barber's clean and clear off-the-field status was tarnished and his legacy went from great running back retires with his health, to player retires early and true colors come out.
Barber is clearly trying to alter the negative perception of him by doing the one thing that he has done great his whole life. Play football.
5. No one wants you
Tiki Barber was the face of the New York Giants for many years. He even gained more yards from scrimmage than any other play in the entire NFL from 2003-2006.
If any team knows how great of a player that Tiki Barber was it is the New York Giants. Than why did the Giants make the following statement when Barber announced a comeback to the NFL?
"We wish Tiki nothing but the best, and when we are able to make the transaction, we will release him from our reserve/retired list.”
If the Giants don't want Barber than why would anyone? He may have left the game too early but that was his decision.
He stayed away now for too long and he must deal with the consequences.
Tiki Barber: 5 Reasons Team Should Just Say No
By Joe Iannello
(Featured Columnist) on August 22, 2011
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 36-year-old running backs and the NFL just don't mix. Someone needs to tell Tiki Barber that (again). Barber has worked out with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers but is yet to ink a contract with any team.
Tiki you are finished and you've been finished. For your sake and the sake of football fans everywhere, stay retired please.
Here are five reasons why NFL teams should stay away from Tiki Barber.
1. Four years is too long
Tiki Barber has been retired for four years from the game of football. He has worked as an analyst and that blew up in his face completely.
If Barber is signed to a NFL team the outcome would be very similar. We have seen Michael Vick return from football after two years of imprisonment and win the Comeback Player of the Year.
Don't let this fool you Mr. Barber, you are not Michael Vick and you have been retired for twice as long. Vick was eased back into football as the third QB of the Philadelphia Eagles and was able to get back into playing shape.
Barber would be expected to contribute on third downs and maybe more if a starter was injured. Four years away from the game means that the elusiveness and agility that once made Barber so great is gone.
2. 36 isn't the new 26
Fad's come and go in Hollywood seemingly every week where "Purple is the new pink" and "Skinny-jeans are cool again," but being 36 in the NFL just isn't cool.There is a reason that teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots begin cutting ties with their own players (see Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Richard Seymour, etc.) when they reach the age of 30.
They simply are on the downward track for their career and there is nothing can stop that slide when it starts. Barber was still an effective runner in his early-30's when he decided to retire but that was four years ago.
He is much older and has not had to train as extensively as he would have if he were still playing in the NFL. Tiki there is a reason that we don't see any 36-year-old running backs in the NFL anymore.
Players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever. That doesn't bode well for a guy that's been out of the game for so long.
3. What's left to prove?
Tiki Barber has 10,440 career rushing yards and 17,359 all-purpose yards. He may have had his best single-season ever when he ran for 1,662 yards the season before he retired.
He has made Pro-Bowl's and All-Pro teams. He has his health and has already earned enough money to support his children and his children's children for the rest of their lives.
What's left to prove Tiki? Coming back to play with your brother Rhonde might be "cool," but it doesn't get you any closer to the Super Bowl ring you covet. No team is guaranteed a Super Bowl and is it really worth pursuing at the risk of your future health?
4. Publicity Stunt
Tiki Barber left football to pursue a career in broadcasting and his wish was granted when he accepted a job with NBC. His broadcasting career was very short-lived when NBC fired him and a tabloid headline said he left his pregnant wife for a 22-year old NBC intern.
Barber's clean and clear off-the-field status was tarnished and his legacy went from great running back retires with his health, to player retires early and true colors come out.
Barber is clearly trying to alter the negative perception of him by doing the one thing that he has done great his whole life. Play football.
5. No one wants you
Tiki Barber was the face of the New York Giants for many years. He even gained more yards from scrimmage than any other play in the entire NFL from 2003-2006.
If any team knows how great of a player that Tiki Barber was it is the New York Giants. Than why did the Giants make the following statement when Barber announced a comeback to the NFL?
"We wish Tiki nothing but the best, and when we are able to make the transaction, we will release him from our reserve/retired list.”
If the Giants don't want Barber than why would anyone? He may have left the game too early but that was his decision.
He stayed away now for too long and he must deal with the consequences.
