Tiki Baber Announces Retirement
After years of uncertainty, Tiki Baber of the New York Giants finally announced that he will retire after this season. He gave a statement this past week which finally settled the rumors that had had been floating around. In most cases, players who chose to retire do so because their playing ability is either slowing or deteriorating. However, Tiki's career is doing anything but. He currently leads the NFL in rushing yards with 533, and last year racked up 1,860 yards on the ground. He has vowed that his decision will not affect his game play this year, and has not affected his teammates. In a telephone interview, Tiki stated, "It comes a point where your body just doesn't want to take it any more, you see other opportunities out there. I'm excited about the rest of my life as well as I am about this football season. So we'll see what happens." Although his retirement seems probable, he will not verify that is a 100% decision.
He is not leaving due to contract or money issues, but rather his agent has stated that Tiki has gotten "beaten up" this past season and gotten "bored of the monotony of the NFL." After leaving the locker room, Tiki Barber will most likely follow the path of many proven athletes and turn toward television broadcasting and announcing to prolong his career. After spending his entire 10 year career on the New York Giants, his motives follow a similar to Brett Farve and the Green Bay Packers. In a follow-up with the Associated Press, Tiki remarked on why retiring now is so important to him, "I think the biggest thing is, and I recognize this, most players get kicked out of the NFL," Barber said. "They don't go out on their own terms. Being someone who takes a lot of pride in what I do, I kind of want to go out on my own terms."