Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League for ten seasons.
78 Facts About Tiki Barber
2.
Tiki Barber played college football for the University of Virginia.
3.
Tiki Barber retired from the NFL at the end of the 2006 NFL postseason as the Giants' all-time rushing and reception leader.
4.
Tiki Barber is one of only four players with 5,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards.
5.
Tiki Barber was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
6.
Tiki Barber is the identical twin brother of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback and safety Ronde Barber.
7.
Tiki Barber attended the University of Virginia on an academic scholarship to major in commerce.
8.
Tiki Barber rushed for almost 1,400 yards in his junior season, helping lead the Cavaliers to a share of the ACC title.
9.
Tiki Barber finished his college career with 651 carries for 3,389 yards and 31 touchdowns, and 64 receptions for 602 yards with two touchdowns.
10.
Originally he was considered a third-down, "change of pace" back, but Tiki Barber became a standout starting running back and the all-time leader in rushing yards in New York Giants history.
11.
From 2003 to 2006, Tiki Barber gained the most yards from scrimmage by any NFL running back in that four-year period.
12.
Tiki Barber was selected by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, out of the University of Virginia.
13.
Tiki Barber was originally intended to be a third-down running back until Rodney Hampton had disappointing years in 1996 and 1997.
14.
Hampton retired after the 1997 season, giving Tiki Barber the starting nod.
15.
Tiki Barber began his career with a mediocre rookie campaign, in which he started at running back and rushed for 511 yards and three touchdowns.
16.
Tiki Barber missed four games with a knee injury, but returned to the starting lineup for the final two games of the year.
17.
Tiki Barber's performance helped the Giants clinch a playoff berth, but the team fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.
18.
Tiki Barber ended the season with 1,984 yards from scrimmage.
19.
Tiki Barber rushed for 1,518 yards and notched 578 receiving yards for 2,096 total yards from scrimmage.
20.
On January 2,2005, in the 2004 season finale, at home versus the Dallas Cowboys, Tiki Barber broke Rodney Hampton's Giants' all-time rushing record and Joe Morris's single-season rushing record in the same game.
21.
On December 17,2005, Tiki Barber broke the Giants' single-game rushing record against the Kansas City Chiefs, rushing for 220 yards; he would break his own record the following year.
22.
Tiki Barber finished the 2005 regular season with 1,860 rushing yards and 2,390 all-purpose yards with a performance of 203 rushing yards against the Oakland Raiders in the final game of the season.
23.
Tiki Barber's 960 yards from scrimmage in December 2005 was an NFL record until it was broken by Chris Johnson, who had 968 from scrimmage in November 2009.
24.
Tiki Barber was named to the NFC Pro Bowl squad for the second time in his career, and was voted an All Pro.
25.
Tiki Barber placed fourth in the voting for the 2005 MVP award.
26.
Tiki Barber was nominated for the 2005 FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award, along with LaDainian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander.
27.
Tiki Barber signed a contract extension in September 2005 which extended his contract through 2008 and increased his pay.
28.
Tiki Barber rushed for 1,662 yards and five touchdowns in his 2006 campaign.
29.
In that game, Tiki Barber set a new team record for rushing yards in a single game by breaking his own record, which he had set the previous year versus Kansas City.
30.
Tiki Barber's 234 rushing yards are the most ever by a player over 30 years old.
31.
Tiki Barber holds the record for most 200-yard rushing games by a player over 30 years old with four.
32.
In October 2006, Tiki Barber revealed his intention to retire at the end of the 2006 NFL season.
33.
Tiki Barber had previously indicated his desire to retire at some point and pursue a broadcasting career.
34.
When questioned why a player at the peak of his game would retire, Tiki Barber cited the toll the physical nature of football takes on a person's body and that he "simply couldn't take it anymore".
35.
Tiki Barber was highly criticized for his decision to retire at his prime.
36.
Tiki Barber was present to cover the event, but was not well received by most of his former teammates and Giants' fans, after his disparaging remarks about his former teammate and Giants quarterback, Eli Manning.
37.
On March 8,2011, Tiki Barber filed paperwork to come out of retirement.
38.
Tiki Barber was an adept receiver out of the backfield with over 450 receiving yards and over 50 receptions every season from 2000 to 2006.
39.
Tiki Barber committed nine fumbles and six lost fumbles in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, respectively.
40.
When head coach Tom Coughlin arrived, he taught Tiki Barber to hold the ball vertically instead of horizontally, of which is a common practice in rugby football.
41.
Tiki Barber began to focus on strength training and lifting in 2004 upon the suggestion of his new running backs coach, Jerald Ingram.
42.
Tiki Barber began to work with a strength coach, Joe Carini, in New Jersey.
43.
Tiki Barber's added upper-body strength allowed him to break more tackles and improve as a running-back.
44.
Tiki Barber improved in other ways over the course of his career.
45.
Tiki Barber refined upon his patience during game-play, which is needed in football to wait for blocks to set and formed holes to emerge in the offensive line before accelerating forward.
46.
Tiki Barber improved upon his physical toughness and blocking ability, as he was not known for being skilled in them earlier in his career.
47.
Tiki Barber additionally benefited from an improved offensive line and Coughlin's emphasis on the Giants' new strategic running game.
48.
In 2002, All-Pro Giants defensive end Michael Strahan was negotiating a new contract, and Tiki Barber publicly criticized Michael Strahan's negotiating stance.
49.
Tiki Barber felt Strahan should have agreed to the contract the Giants offered and remarked that Strahan was greedy.
50.
Heavy sports media attention was placed on the comment; Tiki Barber apologized for it shortly afterwards, saying he only meant to convey the Giants' performance was 'unacceptable.
51.
Tiki Barber immediately landed a role with NBC in which he contributed to the Today program, covered sports for NBC Sports, and hosted entertainment events for NBC Universal.
52.
Tiki Barber is unusual among retired athletes in his desire to cover hard news and political stories; in 2006 Tiki Barber cited a lunch with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the highlight of his year.
53.
Tiki Barber originally began his broadcasting career on WFAN radio and the WCBS local news in New York.
54.
In May 2008, Tiki Barber filled the spot of Willie Geist on the MSNBC program Morning Joe while Geist was on vacation.
55.
Tiki Barber was quietly let go in May 2010 by the network after his contract was not renewed by NBC earlier that year.
56.
Tiki Barber appeared as a studio pundit on the BBC's Super Bowl XLV coverage.
57.
Tiki Barber is a frequent judge on the Food Network show Iron Chef America, along with the show Chopped.
58.
Tiki Barber appeared with his family on NBC's show Celebrity Family Feud which premiered on June 24,2008.
59.
Tiki Barber appeared as the guest in the "Not My Job" section of the NPR news quiz show Wait Wait.
60.
Tiki Barber answered three questions about Mickey Mouse on the occasion of Mickey's 80th birthday.
61.
Tiki Barber was the 'mobile shout out' on an episode of the Discovery Channel game show Cash Cab.
62.
Tiki Barber's character was filmed dressing down an unseen private and used by KITT to distract the owner of the illegal club long enough to allow for capture by Michael.
63.
Tiki Barber was spoofed by KITT at the end of the episode.
64.
Tiki Barber appears in multiple episodes as himself in the 2009 iteration of The Electric Company.
65.
Tiki Barber's "character" is adored by women and adolescents alike and is portrayed as a very likable and forthright role model.
66.
In 2014, Tiki Barber appeared as himself in Orange Is the New Black in the Season 2 episode "It Was the Change" which was the 12th episode of the season.
67.
Tiki Barber co-hosted season 2 of Ultimate Beastmaster with Chris Distefano and season 3 with CM Punk.
68.
Tiki Barber made his Broadway debut as Don in Kinky Boots January 21,2019, and played a limited run until March 3.
69.
Tiki Barber is pursuing business and investment opportunities, reportedly inking a contract to serve as a partner and investor in O Beverages LLC, the maker of fruit-infused bottled water as well as opening a high-tech cycling gym in NYC.
70.
Tiki Barber is co-chairman and co-founder of Thuzio, which provides an online marketplace for athletes to be booked for local speaking appearances, coaching, and personal events.
71.
In 2018 Tiki Barber co-founded Grove Group Management, a cannabis-focused investment firm that provides various forms of expertise to the businesses it invests in.
72.
Tiki Barber aims to work with small and minority-owned cannabis businesses in particular.
73.
Tiki Barber and his twin brother were born five weeks premature.
74.
Tiki Barber was named Atiim Kiambu, which means "fiery-tempered king" because he was screaming shortly after his birth.
75.
Tiki Barber's parents divorced when Tiki Barber was very young, and his father never provided financial support and rarely saw his sons when they were growing up.
76.
Tiki Barber married his University of Virginia sweetheart Virginia Cha Tiki Barber on May 15,1999, and the couple resided on the Upper East Side New York City with Cha's parents living in an en suite.
77.
In 2014, Tiki Barber supported CC Sabathia's charity, the PitCCh In Foundation, by running in the 2014 New York City Marathon.
78.
Tiki Barber has authored nine illustrated children's books with his brother Ronde.