Running back Tiki Barber is a New York Giants legend. He holds over 20 Giants franchise records, including most rushing attempts and yards, most yards from scrimmage and all-purpose yards, and most 1000-yard seasons.
Despite a great career, the three-time Pro Bowler is not in the Hall of Fame. However, he was named a Hall of Fame semifinalist for the first time this week.
Barber talked about his Hall of Fame candidacy and what he thinks is keeping him out of the HOF while appearing on the Audacy original podcast “Amazin’ Conversations with Jay Horwitz” last week.
“I think for quarterbacks and coaches, championships matter, but for running backs it’s really about getting in the room and letting them have the conversation about you,” Barber said (2:48 in player above). “I found this out last year when my brother got inducted. The only thing he wanted was to have them have the conversation about him. I’m not saying I deserve to be a Hall of Famer, it’s just talk about me, and the only way for that to happen is to get into the finals.”
Tiki’s twin brother, Ronde, was a big part of the Buccaneers defense in the 2000s and won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay in 2003.
Barber just wants to get into the conversation, and he’s among some great company in terms of his career stats.
“Maybe I get into the finals and they can have a conversation and talk about those things that you talked about. The 10,000 yards rushing and 5,000 yards receiving,” he said. “Only two other people have that, that’s Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen.”
With so many players worthy of potential Hall of Fame induction, older players’ chances may fall off a bit as more players retire.
“It’s politicking. It’s ‘You vote for my guy, in five years I’ll vote for your guy.’ That’s really what it comes down to,” Barber continued. “I’ve been lucky over the last couple of years because Gary Myers, formerly of the Daily News and a good friend of mine, has kind of taken up the cause and has started advocating for me. Hopefully, it makes a little bit of a difference.”
It’s all about staying in the minds of the voters.
“In some cases, like with Tim Brown, it took a long time to get in himself, the great wide receiver from the Oakland and LA Raiders,” Barber said. “He had to hire a PR firm in order to just get the word out there.
“It’s not that these guys, including myself, aren’t deserving, it’s just that sometimes you start to slip from people’s consciousness, and in order to have a chance of getting into the Hall of Fame you got to be front of mind and be reminded about some of the good things or great things that we as former players did when we were on the gridiron.”
Barber is on the 25-man modern-era semifinalist list for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. That 25-man list will be reduced to 15 finalists before the final voting process for the Class of 2024.