Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber is best known for his long lasting career as a professional football player for the New York Giants. Following his retirement, Barber plans on furthering his career in broadcasting.
Atiim Kiambu Barber was born on April 7, 1975 in Roanoke, Virginia along with identical twin brother, Ronde Barber, who also became a professional football player for Tampa Bay . His mother was a single parent who raised her sons as well as she could. Barber was valedictorian of his high school and was offered a scholarship to play football at the University of Virginia .
While in college, Barber met his future wife Ginny, also a student at the University of Virginia . The couple married at the University chapel in 1999. Today they have two children: Atiim Kiambu Jr. and Chason Cole.
Fresh out of college, Barber was chosen as a second round draft pick by the New York Giants in 1997. His rookie year started off well with 3 touchdowns, but he had to be pulled from four games in the middle of the season due to a knee injury. He was then moved to second string the following season and did not regain his starting position until the 1999 season when he proved himself as an asset to the team.
In 2002, Barber publicly criticized fellow teammate, Michael Strahan for demanding more than the $12 million offered to him in his contract. Barber said he felt that Strahan was being greedy and not thinking of the team.
In 2005 Barber had a stellar season on the field led by the new quarter back, Eli Manning, winning the NFC East Title. The end of the 2005 season also marked the death of Giants’ owner, Wellington Mara, who Barber was especially close with.
Other than his work on the field, Barber also began to develop an interest in broadcasting. Currently he host the show Fox & Friends on Tuesday mornings. He also has his own talk show on XM satellite radio with his brother called Barbershop. Barber has said that following his retirement he would like to pursue his efforts in broadcasting full time and join The Today Show. In 2006 Barber was invited on as guest anchor for the show Good Day New York on WNYW.
Barber and his brother Ronde have proven that they are more than simply football players. They have co-authored a series of illustrated children’s books: By My Brother’s Side (2004), Game Day (2005), and Teammates (2006). |
