While we're not totally sure if there's going to be NFL football next year, it looks like Tiki Barber is getting his ducks in a row just in case.
A tweet from Maxx Sports Entertainment, Barber's agency, says the former Giants' running back has filed the paperwork necessary to get back into the league.
Barber played his entire 10-year career with the New York Giants and retired after the 2006 season despite having put together his three best seasons. Post-NFL life hasn't been quite as good for Tiki. Immediately after hanging them up, Barber landed a broadcasting job with NBC. He bounced from sports to hard news, including a stint on Today and MSNBC's Morning Joe. Audiences in just about every genre never cottoned to Barber and the network quietly declined to renew his contract when it expired.
Things in his personal life haven't been much better. He announced that he was leaving his then-pregnant wife for a 23-year old NBC intern with which he'd been having an affair. Although, according to a recently fired CBS sitcom star, that could classify as "winning". Unlike that possessor of Adonis DNA, Tiki's had financial issues and a check of past headlines reminds us that Barber's money problems are nothing new.
It doesn't help that he's running out of media options after flaming out at NBC. Our friend, Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser reports that he saw Barber in Dallas covering the Super Bowl for Yahoo! Sports.
The days of the feature back in the NFL seem to dwindling with many teams going toward platoons and specialized packages. Even so, it's hard to believe that a running back well on the wrong side of 30 (Barber turns 36 in April) who hasn't played in five years can be an impact player. Then again, a 34-year old Plaxico Burress will be released from prison soon and since the Giants still own the rights to both of those players, Big Blue has some decisions to make. It would be a surprise to seem them keep either of those two, but it's pretty certain that this story is far from over.
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