Tiki Barber - Hall of Fame?

by rzor on Jun 27, 2008 4:02 PM EDT

This discussion has been brought up before in other forums, but I'm not sure if it's hit here at BBV. There's obviously a little bad blood and hurt feelings between some Giants fans and players regarding Tiki Barber, but looking back at his career I think it's valid question to wonder whether Tiki Barber is worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This might even seem like a crazy premise, until you consider Eric Dickerson has already been enshrined, so really anything could happen.

In full disclosure, I was and still am a huge Tiki Barber fan. I was rooting for him while he was a Virginia Cavalier, and I was thrilled when he was picked by my hometown NFL team. So, you already know which side of the fence I stand on.

I think the first hurdle to clear is what the player meant to his team. Tiki Barber owns a bevy of team records, from career rushing touchdowns (55) to Most 1,000 yard seasons (6). Tiki Barber is also only the third player in NFL history to be the career leader in both rushing yards and receptions with their respective NFL franchises. To me one of the most impressive stats to discover was he actually led the Giants in rushing for every game from the beginning of the 2002 season until end of the 2006 season. That was an NFL record 80 consecutive games.

The next item to note is how he stacked up against his contemporaries. It might surprise you to know for more than half a decade he was one of the most prolific backs in the league. From 2000 through 2006 Tiki Barber gained the most yards from scrimmage by any NFL running back in that seven year stretch. He also led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Tiki named to the pro bowl and all pro roster three times as well.

Now lets get into the serious number and stat crunching:

Tiki Barber is one of only ten running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing. Tiki is the fourth player in NFL history to have four 2,000 total yard seasons. Not exclusive enough for you? He joined Marchall Faulk and Marcus Allen as the third player in NFL history to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards. He is also one of three players ever to have at least three 200+ yard rushing games in a single season, adding to his total of five for his career. Tiki Barber is the first player in NFL history with 1,800 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in one season. There's more, of course, but that all puts him in some pretty rarefied air.

There are some things that hold him back. Tiki Barber earned a reputation for fumbling early in his career. During a rough four year stretch (2000-2003) he averaged 8.75 fumbles per year (losing 4.25 on average). He played in only one Super Bowl, but never managed to be part of a world championship. Tiki was never league MVP. His trophy room is just pretty bare in general.

That's all I've got for now. I'd love to hear what you think.

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Yeah, he'll make it

But, of course, I don’t get to vote.

by TerraByte on Jun 27, 2008 7:50 PM EDT 0 recs

simms first

hopefully they vote Simms in first, if they don’t then i’ll be mad

by Hoyadestroya85 on Jun 28, 2008 12:38 AM EDT 0 recs

I loved Simms to death

but Hall of Fame material? He’s never struck me as quite up to that level. He was the right guy for the right time, and played an all-time game on the game’s biggest stage, but his career doesn’t strike me as Hall of Fame worthy. I hope I’m wrong.

by rzor on Jun 30, 2008 5:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

his career is comparable though a little shorter then Marshall Faulk’s. There is ZERO reason he did not win MVP over Alexander that year (I will not argue about that, Alexander had like 20 more rushing yards, and like 500 less passing yards. The MVP of the league should be a guy who comes out on 3rd down??? But it’s OK, he had a lot of 1 yd untouched TD’s behind the two best lineman in the league. Ridiculous). I always say, if you look at his career backwards there wouldn’t even be an argument. If LT has nothing but 1300 yard games for 7 more years his career numbers will just about the same as Tiki’s, and they will usher him into Canton. Two things that affect perception of Tiki’s career is that his dominance came late in his career (which I’m convinced is the number one thing) and that his stats are in yds from scrimmage, not rushing yards.

by queler on Jun 28, 2008 11:32 AM EDT 0 recs

one more stat you missed

2nd highest yards from scrimmage for a season ever, behind Faulk

by queler on Jun 28, 2008 11:33 AM EDT 0 recs

Absolutely

I feel about him the way I’d feel about an ex-girlfriend: it’s hard to get the breakup out of my mind when I think about him, but once I do, I remember all the great memories and how much I loved him when he was here. I used to argue with my friends all the time about how underrated Tiki was, and how he was consistently one of the top 3 backs in the league ever since 2000.

Looking at the numbers you gave, it’s really hard to argue against him. He was one of the most versatile running backs in the history of the game. If he had figured out the fumbling thing earlier in his career, he might have even been better than Faulk. Think of how good he was the last 3 years, and he had clearly lost a step at that point: imagine that with his earlier speed.

by cjmulrain on Jun 28, 2008 12:00 PM EDT 0 recs

Of course

Tiki makes the Hall. The fact that he is a total jerk and has turned lots of Giants fans against him has nothing to do with it.

by ETVal on Jun 30, 2008 6:56 AM EDT 0 recs

talked to any non-Giants fans

I haven’t gotten the impression that most people agree

by queler on Jun 30, 2008 12:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

he'll get inducted into the Hall of Shut Up

if thats any consolation.

by kendynamo on Jun 30, 2008 12:53 PM EDT 0 recs

Time will heal the wounds....

And if you want to look at it another way, compare his stats to Gifford.

by giant fan since 57 on Jun 30, 2008 4:19 PM EDT 0 recs

Nope. Not Simms, either.

It’s not the Hall of Very Good. It’s the Hall of Fame. Tiki was very VERY good…but not HOF good. Same with Simms, much as it pains me to say it.

I left my swagger in my other pants.

by HughG16 on Jun 30, 2008 6:43 PM EDT 0 recs

Youve got it exactly right, H

There’s a wide gulf between being merely very good and being an HOFer. Often fans of and media for the team(s) with some very good players think those players deserve HOF honors, but it doesn’t work that way. To get a solid fix re who might make it to the HOF, the best sources are the fans of and media for teams other than the team(s) the potential inductees played for. Long before they retire, certain guys are universally acknowledged as being on the way to enshrinement at Canton. There’re more Bills than Giants fans where I now live (and quite a few Browns fans as well.) Raise the question of Phil or Tiki as being worthy of the Hall brings guffaws from them, but you never hear them denigrate the accomplishments of guys like Giff, YA, LT, etc., and they accept w/o question that Stray will get in on the first ballot.

by george cronin on Jun 30, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

All Tiki has to do

is state the obvious and come out and just admit he spoke what he thought was the truth. Did it the way he did because of his new career ,and admit that he SHOULD have handled it better. Repost this in another year. His comments are still too fresh for me to show him any love. If he had left when he did and not ran his mouth like it was running against the Redskins in a season finale I would be waxing poetic about what a great player/ person he was…..................Nows not a good time.
Simms should be in based on his SB performance alone.

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Jun 30, 2008 8:04 PM EDT 0 recs