When running back Tiki Barber retired following the 2006 regular season, he went out by taking a few shots at New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who had just completed his third NFL season.
Barber’s comments were taken to heart by many in the Giants organization. Fans also turned on Barber over his criticism, and it’s taken many years for some to let go.
Since that time, Barber has publicly apologized to Manning and essentially buried the hatchet with the franchise, finding himself welcomed back during Pat Shurmur’s short tenure.
14 years removed from his critical comments on Manning, Barber is now singing an entirely different tune, telling those at the Scoop B Radio Podcast that Eli is “no doubt” a Hall of Famer.
“He is a Hall of Famer. No doubt about it,” Barber said. “The question about first ballot is timing because, think about the peers that he’s going in around. I think he maybe has an advantage because he’s not going to align with his brother Peyton, who retired a couple years before. He’s not going to align with Drew Brees, who is still playing, or Tom Brady. And so, he might get fortunate because he is a Hall of Famer and coming into a class that doesn’t have a quarterback waiting, you know what I mean? Like, he doesn’t have a guy that is a guaranteed Hall of Famer waiting.”
Some may see Barber’s comments as a backhanded compliment, but he’s not wrong. If Manning were to face a class consisting of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and/or Tom Brady, he’d likely be left on the outside looking in — that’s just the reality of it.
However, without facing that type of strict competition when his time comes, Manning should not only make the Hall of Fame, but should find his way in with relative ease.
“Is Tom Brady better than Eli? Yeah, you could say Tom Brady is better than Eli, but Eli beat him twice in the Super Bowls,” Barber said. “Is Eli better than his brother? It’s debatable. They both had the same numbers of success — the Super Bowls — but Peyton Manning was this iconic player. And so when you start comparing Eli to his peers — Peyton, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady — you can probably put them all above Eli. But when it comes to the Hall of Fame, it’s all about timing and the narrative around your timing. You know, Eli might just be a first ballot Hall of Famer because he hits the finalists list at the right time.”
Whether you’ve forgiven Barber for his comments in 2006 or not, it’s clear he’s done a complete 180 in regards to Manning.
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