Since the NFL was founded in 1920, no two brothers have ever been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One pair of brothers, Ronde and Tiki Barber, are probably the only ones that come to mind as possibilities.
Only issue is, neither of these identical twins have been inducted as of yet, so the odds of them both getting in at this point are getting slimmer.
Ronde, a cornerback, was a third-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1997 NFL Draft out of Virginia and played 16 seasons there, playing in a franchise record 241 games. In his career, Ronde picked off 47 passes with eight touchdowns. He was named a five-time All-Pro and was a key contributor on the Bucs’ Super Bowl XXXVII championship team.
Tiki was the New York Giants’ second-round selection in the 1997 NFL Draft, also out of Virginia. He had a slow start to his career with fumbling issues until Tom Coughlin took over as the head coach in 2004.
Tiki’s career took off for the next three seasons until he abruptly retired after the 2006 season, finishing with 15,632 total yards from scrimmage, the 15th-most in NFL History. Of the top 19 players on that list, Barber is the only retired player not in the Hall of Fame.
Tiki recently spoke about his brother’s career, which should eventually get him into Canton.
“It’s not even a conversation because of the durability and uniqueness of his role,” Tiki told the Roanoke Times of Ronde. “The fact that some of these guys are getting in is laughable to me. When [Ronde] started playing in that Tampa -2 defense, which put a huge emphasis on the slot cornerback, that third cornerback became invaluable. There were seasons when Ronde had 100 tackles. He had — what? — 28 sacks in his career. He was asked to do so much. Now, if you look at that position, it’s one of the most valuable.”
As for Tiki himself, he falls a bit short statistically even though he is only one of three player to rush for 10,000 yards and receive for another 5,000. Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen are the others.
Tiki has another issue. Many feel he left the game too early. He was at the top of his game when he packed it in. The next season, the Giants won the Super Bowl without him.
“I was getting crap beat out of me,” he said. “The running back position hadn’t evolved into what it is now. I was getting 400 touches a season and getting all beat up. I didn’t want to get crippled. I was durable, but I wasn’t a big guy.”
Getting into the Hall of Fame is like any other subjective exercise or campaign. You need more than career stats sometimes. You need a championship. Tiki doesn’t have too many of those.
Even though he was one of the greatest players in New York Giants history, Barber’s relationship with the team has been rocky at times thanks to some very public criticisms of Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning.
“It’s all about someone creating a narrative for you,” Tiki said, “And, if they create one against you, then you aren’t going to get in. It’s kind of crazy.”
Tiki hasn’t even been named a finalist for the Hall. As each year passes, the odds are mounting against him. It looks like the Barbers won’t be the first pair of brothers in Canton.
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