POST-IMUS, BARBER JOINS NBC'S TODAY
One shelf in the bookcase in Tiki Barber's home office contains the entire Harry Potter series, three Bibles, “Moby Dick,” a collection of poems and the jacket of the book he is currently reading, Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope,” offering a small window into Barber’s “eclectic view of the world” and the kinds of issues he hopes to tackle in his second life.
“Eventually I want to be able to do anything,” he said. “I want to have the credibility to talk about politics or breaking news, that’s the top end. But I understand there’s a process to get there … I’m starting at the bottom again.”
In an era when our young people are enveloped in a blanket of materialistic, sex drenched, prison culture influenced images, it's refreshing to see a new face, a new voice, a new hero rise from the muck and take center stage. A former high school valedictorian, now that Tiki is off the gridiron, how will our youth get to know this guy since he doesn't have a rump shakin' video or blasting his bling on "Yo MTV Cribs?"
Maybe we do it like we did with Imus, or do daily with Snoop or Bobby Brown or Whitney or Flava Flaaav--we do it the old-fashioned way: Just talk about him.
We need new, fresh, intelligent folks representing us family. Sistahs may have an attitude because he went the Asian wifey route - ala Wesley Snipes, Wayne Brady and Eddie Griffin, but this former New York Giants NFL running back is on the move.
Congrats Tiki! Get the details here.