Vol. 3, No. 15, October 1, 2007 - Play by Play

10 PLAY BY PLAY OCTOBER 1, 2007
Still at the
TOP
TIKI BARBER
COMES HOME
by Gene Marrano
of
IT’S EVIDENT VERY EARLY
in his new autobiography,
Tiki, My Life in the Game and
Beyond, that former Cave Spring
High School valedictorian Tiki
Barber knows how
to write with flair
and articulation.
In one six-page sequence,
he describes
a simple run from
scrimmage, detailing
all of his thoughts as he
looks for daylight and
follows blockers before
sprinting off into the end zone.
It reads like a graceful description
of ballet choreography.
In another chapter, Barber, who
went on to star at the University of
his
game
Virginia before
a stellar National
Football
League career
with the New
York Giants, vividly
describes
the fine art of
putting on the
too-tight uniforms
favored
by football
players who do all they can to
appear like fierce warriors.
Barber appreciated the athletic
skills he honed at Cave
Spring, but would prefer to mention
first the education he received
there as a foundation for his success
outside the game of football.
He’s written several children’s
books with his twin brother —
Tiki Barber was the keynote speaker at a Sept. 13 Valley Forward forum.
Roanoker and former UVa teammate Walt Derey (right) brought Barber in
Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde
Barber — and may turn them into
an animated television series. He
and Ronde have hosted the satellite
football wrap-up show, The
Barber Shop, for years; he was a
Fox & Friends morning show cohost
and an off-season sportscaster
for the CBS-TV affiliate in New
York at one point.
My Life in The Game and Beyond
(Simon & Schuster) is a good read
from a man who was always looking
ahead, even at an early age,
when both he and Ronde were
being raised by single mother
Geraldine Barber. Their father,
J.B., a one-time Virginia Tech tailback,
has never been a part of the
family.
Barber didn’t entirely warm to
football until well into his high
school years, according to the
book, and stayed lighter than he
should have been as a ball carrier
until his junior season at the
University of Virginia.
Before the 1995 season
at UVa, an assistant coach
asked him what he wanted
to be: an Olympic track
star — one of Barber’s
dreams — or a successful
tailback. The
ex-sprinter’s name
can still be seen at
Cave Spring High
School on a tote
board that lists track
records. Barber bulked up, adding
weight and muscle, and two years
later was drafted by the Giants in
the second round. The rest is history:
originally thought of as a
Bill Turner photos
third-down back, the 5’9” dynamo
eventually became a starter and
all-purpose yards monster, rushing
for more than 10,000 yards,
catching passes for 5,000 more.
Barber says he feels “not a tinge”
of regret about walking away
from the game after a 2006 season
where he felt like he was slipping,
despite impressive numbers.
The shadow of Willie Mays, Jerry
Rice, Evander Holyfield and others
who stayed far too long in the
arena was always on his mind.
“That was part of it,” says Barber,
quick to add that there were
no “simple answers,” as to why he
walked away from the game at age
31. “I knew that in little ways, I was
losing a step. It did bug me.”
Ex-football running back stars
like Barry Sanders, Robert Smith
and Jim Brown that walked away
near the top
of their game
were ins
p i r a -
tions.
Barber’s high school football coach was Steve
Spangler, now the principal at Cave Spring
Barber appears to burn some
bridges in the book, especially
where now-embattled Giants
See BARBER, Page 16