Tiki torches 'idiots' for criticizing retirement decision

[smugiant2008]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2639376

 

Tiki torches 'idiots' for criticizing retirement decision

ESPN.com news services

 

 

Tiki Barber blasted critics of his retirement decision on his Tuesday night Sirius Satellite Radio show, "The Barber Shop."

 

"...I will call them idiots, because they have neither spoken to me, nor any one of my teammates or any of my coaches," Barber said. "Yet all they do is criticize me for being a distraction with this retirement thing."

 

Barber was specifically upset at three of his critics: the New York Daily News' Gary Myers, who wrote that Barber had "created a season-long distraction" the Giants "don't need"; and ESPN's Tom Jackson, who said the decision "has distracted the team from the task at hand," and Michael Irvin.

 

"To me, in my head, that's quitting," Irvin said before the Giants' 36-22 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night. "That's not retiring."

 

Barber singled the three out during his radio show Tuesday night.

 

"And that includes Gary Myers," he said. "That includes Tom Jackson on ESPN. That includes the ultimate character guy, facetiously speaking of course, Michael Irvin. Please get a clue on how to be a journalist.

 

"Don't make blanket assumptions about it [retirement]. And obviously, as was evidenced [Monday] night, I am a huge distraction to the New York Giants," he said.

 

The remarks come a week after it was first learned Barber was considering retiring after this season.

 

"I've been talking about retirement for years now, and it has nothing to do with being physical or money or Hall of Fame," Barber said at the time. "It's all about my desires, and for me to change them would compromise my integrity and would compromise who I am as a person and what I've always stood for."

 

Asked whether there was added pressure to win this year because of his plans, Barber said: "The pressure's always there, it's no different just because you guys know that I'm going to retire this year.

 

"I'm a diverse person," Barber said. "I have a lot of interests, and at some point it's time to execute a plan that's been in place for me for about seven and a half, eight years."

 

Still, Barber wouldn't commit to saying his retirement was 100 percent certain.

 

"It's Week 6 of the NFL season, so I won't say that," he said at the time.

 

However, he also said there was "nothing" that would change his mind.

 

Now in his 10th season, the 31-year-old Barber said that he has been banged up more this season than in any previous one and that his passion for the game has waned.

 

Barber, who has spoken about retiring a couple times in the past year, has a myriad interests off the field. He has worked in television and has discussed possible jobs in finance and philanthropy.

 

"I have a lot of interests and I've never wanted to be solely defined as a football player," said Barber, who will earn $4.15 million this season. "I wasn't that way in high school, I wasn't that way in college and I won't compromise my ideals to be that way in the National Football League."

 

Longtime teammate Amani Toomer believes Barber is serious about quitting after this season.

 

"Knowing Tiki, he is not the type of guy to just say things," Toomer said. "Whatever he says, he means."

 

Linebacker Brandon Short thinks the talk of Barber's will not distract the team.

 

"Tiki is an outstanding player and I hope he stays with the Giants and plays forever, so I can watch him play and he can help us win some championships," Short said. "Right now, our focus is the task at hand and that's the 2006 season."

 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Treehugger]

That includes the ultimate character guy, facetiously speaking of course, Michael Irvin. Please get a clue on how to be a journalist.

 

Irvin is an ass.

[boohyah]

Irvin talks about Tiki being a quitter, yet he's up TO's ass looking for interviews and sticking up for him, the ultimate non team football player who quit on his team last year.

[gmenroc]

Yeah, I heard this on Mike & Mike this morning. If the Giants win the superbowl, I can't help but think that Irvin will change his tune. It'll be the whole 'wanting to go out on top' argument. Irvin is just a flat out retard who knew his team was going to lose but didn't have the balls to say it in front of his fans.

[Herc]

irvin shouldn't have called tiki a quitter--he was wrong for that. but if tiki wants to get into the media business he'd better realize this is how it works. those guys are entitled to their opinions whether they end up being wrong or not. im sure tiki won't be calling everyone he voices an opinion on, so why should they clear anything they say about him with him first?

[Dragon]

irvin shouldn't have called tiki a quitter--he was wrong for that. but if tiki wants to get into the media business he'd better realize this is how it works. those guys are entitled to their opinions whether they end up being wrong or not. im sure tiki won't be calling everyone he voices an opinion on, so why should they clear anything they say about him with him first?

True... they are entitled to their opinions, but Irvin's wasn't just wrong... it was retarded. You don't call anyone out like that and expect it to just be taken. Shit, he's lucky that it was Tiki and not someone else that he just happened to deem as a quitter. Tiki was correct in defending himself and if they knew what the hell was going on they'd have known that the talk of Tiki retiring has been going on for years. The comments that were made about him were completely unjustified and he should be able to defend himself. To take it even further... during the last offseason Tiki said that if we won a championship or he felt that we weren't contenders anymore he was done. So is this really coming as a shock? Is Tiki really being detrimental to the success of his team? Has he created a season-long distraction? Or is Michael Irvin just an asshole for calling Tiki Barber, the man that has been the majority of our offense for the past six years, a quitter? And KP I'm not taking shots at you or anything with this, but this whole thing is really retarded. We (the fans) knew it was coming... The team knew it was coming... the coaches knew it was coming... and I'm sure the FO knew it was coming... so what's the problem?

[Herc]

i dont disagree, but it the timing really rubs me the wrong way. considering he has a kids book coming out and the monday night national exposure is good for his post-football career it seems like he's trying to make it into the tiki show. he's playing fine, and that's all that really matters, but it's hard not to feel put off by him.

[Dragon]

You know this whole thing really makes me want him to get the rushing title among other things this year. Hopefully he'll score once or twice this weekend so that his critics can shut up about Ronde having more scores than he does.

[fringe]

i dont disagree, but it the timing really rubs me the wrong way. considering he has a kids book coming out and the monday night national exposure is good for his post-football career it seems like he's trying to make it into the tiki show. he's playing fine, and that's all that really matters, but it's hard not to feel put off by him.

As I said, it all seems a bit self serving. Sounds like he followed the advice of an agent or publicist. In regards to Irvin, he's an angry Ahmad Rashad and has lost all credibilty with his shameless support of TO. ESPN keeps him as a circus act.

[Iceman_NYG]

Either way, I think the timing of Tiki announcing his retirement is completely wrong and he shouldnt have done it. And I seriously dont buy into that 'some reporter overheard me' bullshit. He should have done it at the end of the season after we win the SB.