The Pro Football Hall of Fame announcements have come and gone and once again there are no New York Giants on the list. Not that there aren’t any that are worthy.
In a recent article, Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports lists each team’s top candidate for the Hall. For the Giants, he lists running back Tiki Barber as the Giant most worthy of donning a gold jacket.
After receiving just 11 starts during his first three seasons, Barber broke through in 2000, amassing over 1,700 all-purpose yards while helping the Giants reach the Super Bowl. He went on to enjoy six more highly productive seasons with the Giants that included three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. Barber earned All-Pro honors in 2005, when he rushed for a career-high 1,860 yards (the 13th-highest single-season total in NFL history). During his final three seasons, Barber averaged 1,680 rushing yards (while averaging 5 yards per carry) and 2,204 all-purpose yards. In 2006, his final NFL season, Barber rushed for 1,662 yards while reaching 2,000 all-purpose yards for a third straight season.
Barber is one of only seven players to amass 2,000 or more yards from scrimmage in three or more seasons. Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton and Marshall Faulk each did it four times, while Barber, LaDainian Tomlinson, Priest Holmes and Edgerrin James all did it three. Barber and Holmes are the only two on the list not in the Hall.
Tiki’s 15,352 total yards from scrimmage ranks 15th all-time in the NFL, which is more than James and Dickerson and other Hall of Famers such as Jim Brown, Jerome Bettis, Franco Harris, John Riggins and O.J. Simpson.
Barber is also the Giants’ all-time leading rusher (10,449 yards) and holds four the franchise’s top five single-season rushing totals, is second to Hall of Famer Frank Gifford in touchdowns and second in receptions (586) to Amani Toomer’s 668.
Let us also note that another famous Giant is on this list, running back Ottis Anderson, who was listed as the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals candidate.
Anderson was traded to the Giants during the 1986 season and won two Super Bowls. He was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXV, the Giants’ 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
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