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Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond by Tiki…
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Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond (edition 2008)

by Tiki Barber, Gil Reavill (Contributor)

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Traces the story of the New York Giants star, from his childhood at the side of his fellow football-playing identical twin and his efforts to overcome personal obstacles and injuries to the controversies that marred the 2006 season and his surprise early retirement.
Member:DallasRhino
Title:Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond
Authors:Tiki Barber
Other authors:Gil Reavill (Contributor)
Info:Simon Spotlight Entertainment (2008), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 240 pages
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Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond by Tiki Barber

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I've always had a lot of admiration for Tiki Barber. Most of those reading this review probably already know who Tiki Barber is, but he played for the New York Giants as a tailback from 1997 to 2006, ending his career with over 10,000 yards rushing and 5,000 yards receiving. Only two other running backs have accomplished that feat (Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen). He retired last year at the age of 31 on the top of his game.

I'm not a New York Giants fan, but as football fan you have to appreciate the way he played on the field. He wasn't the biggest back but he was an electric one and the last five years of his career he was one of the top backs in the league. He is also clearly a very bright and articulate fellow, retiring to go into a broadcasting career that isn't just some ex-jock talking sports.

In this book Tiki takes the opportunity to talk about his life experiences. He grew up in a single parent household in Roanoke, Virginia with his twin brother Rhonde Barber, who is an outstanding cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Growing up with a hard working mother raising two sons, and having an alter ego in an identical twin, clearly shaped his outlook on life and kept him grounded. He also talks very briefly about his career at the University of Virginia, a school he and his brother chose more for its location and academics than they did (obviously) for its football prowess.

The bulk of the book, however, is about Tiki's career with the New York Giants. There really isn't a lot of nitty-gritty X's and O's discussion in the book, or interesting anecdotes about crazy player antics, strategies, or the inside story of the New York Giants. This book is more about his perseverance going from what many considered to be an undersized back on special teams and third downs, to an every down back and one of the best to ever play the game.

The last part of the book focuses more on the last few years of his career with really a new regime - a new, disciplinarian head coach in Tom Coughlin, a new quarterback in Eli Manning, along with new offensive players, Plaxico Burress (WR) and Jeremy Shockey (TE).

Anyone who has closely followed football the past few years knows of what appears to be a little bit of turmoil and dissention on the Giants team, with prominent players complaining about the head coach and his disciplinarian ways. And of course the media, at least some in the media, were somewhat harsh on Tiki announcing his retirement during last season, saying it was selfish and a distraction for the team. And Tiki himself was part of the problem, saying after one playoff game the team was "out coached" and making other allusions to his dislike of the way the team was handled under Coughlin. Tiki rationalizes this a bit in the book. Certainly players can say what they want, but regardless of what Tiki says - that players aren't paying attention to this and it's not a distraction - I don't find that very believable. Anytime you have prominent players undermining the head coach he loses respect and it will get into the mindset of the team. And maybe Tiki is right. He says he retired, at least in part, because Coughlin made him lose his desire to play and he wanted to pursue other things in his life. But all that swirling attention around the coach certainly couldn't have helped the team mentally.

Overall I found this book interesting but nothing particularly inspiring or insightful. It is Tiki's story and that, in and of itself, is interesting enough for me. For those looking for a tell all, inside story of the Giants or pro football, this is not the book for you. For those looking for X's and O's and strategy, this is not the book for you either. For those looking for a snapshot into the thoughts and life of a great NFL player, this is your ticket.

That is my review of the book but given we are talking about Tiki let's talk about things going on outside this book. Recently there has been a flap about Tiki indicating that Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, is not a good leader, in fact even making fun of Eli and his leadership abilities. Tiki is rather kind to his teammates and Eli in the book so I wonder why he taking potshots at him now. Recently in the media there are more reports of his taking shots at his old team, but I have not followed the details. Yes, as he says in his book, he can say what he wants, fine go ahead and say what you want. But when he takes swipes at his old team it makes me respect him less. Maybe it's just to get media attention because negativity sells. But I think this may reveal the underlying problem with why, in my opinion, the Giants are an underachieving team.

In this book Tiki says the Giants are a mediocre team and that the organization needs to do a better job of selecting good talent in the draft and free agency (see page 168). I beg to differ. The Giants, on paper, have an outstanding team, they simply have underperformed the past few years. Tiki Barber, Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, Eli Manning, a solid offensive line, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and a reasonably solid defensive unit is not mediocre. This team underperforms in terms of wins and losses. Whether it's a lousy coach, a young quarterback who makes mistakes, or simply poor play all around, this is not a mediocre team. It's an underachieving team, and other than its Super Bowl run, it was an underachieving team before Coughlin became the head coach. Tiki himself talks about a loss to Carolina in the playoffs where the coach showed him game film after he said "we were out coached" that showed the players missing assignments and making mistakes that cost them the game. There is something not quite right about this team beyond so called mediocrity.

Tiki's post-retirement comments might be some insight into what has been wrong with the Giants the past few years. If the players really don't respect each other, and they don't respect their coach, that is a formula for failure. Not that the Giants are failures, it's a good team, but if Tiki's comments are any indication of a wider opinion on the team, whether spoken or not, I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon. ( )
  DougBaker | Jul 24, 2019 |
The former running back for the New York Giants gives his story, from when he and his twin brother Ronde were raised by their single mother to his time in the NFL, and after that to when he joined the Today Show on NBC. I am not a big fan of sports but I still really enjoyed this book, and football fans will love it even more!
This is a fascinating autobiography, and we see things about the life of a famous football player that one never hears about on television. He tells the story of the relationship with his wife, and how he never got along very well with his coach, Tom Coughlin. It is too bad that he retired from the Giants the year before they won the Super Bowl, but this is still a great book. ( )
  DavidDunkerton | Apr 1, 2010 |
As a long-time Giants fan from a Giants family I was interested in this book and enjoyed it quite a bit. Tiki is always one of my favorites and I don't understand the people who call him down. He was great for the Giants. This book gives his life story and shows that it wasn't all a bed of roses. It inspired me because it told how he rose above adversity. ( )
  Historygrrrl | Sep 25, 2007 |
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Traces the story of the New York Giants star, from his childhood at the side of his fellow football-playing identical twin and his efforts to overcome personal obstacles and injuries to the controversies that marred the 2006 season and his surprise early retirement.

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