TIKI BARBER SHOWING HIS CHOPS
Mitchell Blatt
Tiki Trashes Manning, Coughlin as His First Acts on TV
After criticizing Eli Manning for failing to be a leader, he is calling out coach Coughlin for forcing his retirement. Not that there’s anything wrong with taking on Coughlin, but the words used are ludicrous. He said that his good play kept Coughlin employed as coach. Makes sense doesn’t it, considering Coughlin imporved Tiki’s play?
Before Coughlin: 773 yards per season, 4 TD, 6.2 fumbles
With Coughlin: 1680 yd, 1.333 TD, 3 fumbles
According to Tiki, “It’s a double-edged sword, because as much as Couch Coughlin helped me, I also helped Tom Coughlin.”
Well, yeah, that’s how most relationships work. That was the New York Giants, you played for, not the Dallas Cowboys, where a player can force the coach to retire. That and more is featured in his new book Tiki: My Life On and Off the Field.
As for Eli Manning not having leadership, Manning says that Barber wasn’t doing a very good job of leading when he criticized Coughlin all season or let the media know about his retirement. Good quotes to use when shooting back, but Barber surpassed 200 yards from scrimmage against Dallas the week after he made the announcement. Irvin and the rest of the media shut up their criticisms then.
Still, one good games just means that you are a good player. You can win a single game with bad chemistry, but it might hurt you throughout the season as a whole. Only the Giants players know the full effect of Tiki’s grumblings.
Furthermore, it is interesting to wonder how Manning and Barbers’ relationship really is. Is Manning actually offended by Tiki’s comments? At first, he simply brushed them off, but then he came back with the same charge against Tiki. Perhaps this is just Manning trying to handle criticism, but maybe it’s more?
After all, Tiki did seem to be something of a loner and free spirit. He wasn’t known to have much of a relationship with the rest of his teammates. For him to be saying Manning has poor leadership skills (other than the fact that it is probably accurate), could mean a lot less to him than it does to Manning. He could be thinking, “I’m just telling the people what they want to know. I’m not bashing Manning,” whereas most former or current athletes wouldn’t want to say those things about their teammate, even if true.
Tiki Barber’s New Book
Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond
What do you think? Post your opinion in the comment section.
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