Tiki Barber: Working Towards Being The Prince Of New York Media

Some essential Tiki-isms from the soon-to-be-retired Giants running back in this month’s Gotham magazine:

Gotham: Ronde has described you as the “King of New York media.” Do you consider that an accurate description?

Tiki Barber: I wouldn’t say I’m the king. I dabble a lot, and I’m working towards being, maybe … a prince.

G: You already appear on the TV show Fox & Friends once a week. Are you thinking about another morning show?

TB: I think a morning show suits my personality more so than an evening news show.

G: What’s next for you? More sportscasting?

TB: No-well, probably some. But [I plan to] mostly work outside of the sports arena. We’re talking to all the major networks: ABC, NBC, FOX…

Wow. So, Tiki, what are the major networks gonna get?

G: Are we going to see a new side of you, one we haven’t seen before?

TB: You’ve seen it all.

That, Tiki, could be the problem. But hey, at least Tiki knows what it takes to be a journalist:

G: So, you announced your retirement this year.

TB: I didn’t really announce it, the news was kind of broken by John Branch of The New York Times, who was following me around for a story. I had a bunch of meetings with networks, and it became apparent that I wouldn’t be playing football next year. So he asked me a simple question that I thought was innocuous at the time: “Do you think you’ll play next year — will anything bring you back?” And I said, “No, nothing.” And two hours later he came back and said, “You know what, Tiki, I’m in a little bit of a quandary — this is news and I have to write it, but I know you don’t want me to.” And I said, “You’re right. I’d rather you not write it, but it’s your job as a journalist and you have to do what you have to do.”

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