Customer Reviews

Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond

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I've always had a lot of admiration for Tiki Barber. Most of those reading this review probably already know who Tiki Barber is, but he played for the New York Giants as a tailback from 1997 to 2006, ending his career with over 10,000 yards rushing and 5,000 yards receiving. Only two other running backs have accomplished that feat (Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen). He retired last year at the age of 31 on the top of his game.

I'm not a New York Giants fan, but as football fan you have to appreciate the way he played on the field. He wasn't the biggest back but he was an electric one and the last five years of his career he was one of the top backs in the league. He is also clearly a very bright and articulate fellow, retiring to go into a broadcasting career that isn't just some ex-jock talking sports.

In this book Tiki takes the opportunity to talk about his life experiences. He grew up in a single parent household in Roanoke, Virginia with his twin brother Rhonde Barber, who is an outstanding cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Growing up with a hard working mother raising two sons, and having an alter ego in an identical twin, clearly shaped his outlook on life and kept him grounded. He also talks very briefly about his career at the University of Virginia, a school he and his brother chose more for its location and academics than they did (obviously) for its football prowess.

The bulk of the book, however, is about Tiki's career with the New York Giants. There really isn't a lot of nitty-gritty X's and O's discussion in the book, or interesting anecdotes about crazy player antics, strategies, or the inside story of the New York Giants. This book is more about his perseverance going from what many considered to be an undersized back on special teams and third downs, to an every down back and one of the best to ever play the game.

The last part of the book focuses more on the last few years of his career with really a new regime - a new, disciplinarian head coach in Tom Coughlin, a new quarterback in Eli Manning, along with new offensive players, Plaxico Burress (WR) and Jeremy Shockey (TE).

Anyone who has closely followed football the past few years knows of what appears to be a little bit of turmoil and dissention on the Giants team, with prominent players complaining about the head coach and his disciplinarian ways. And of course the media, at least some in the media, were somewhat harsh on Tiki announcing his retirement during last season, saying it was selfish and a distraction for the team. And Tiki himself was part of the problem, saying after one playoff game the team was "out coached" and making other allusions to his dislike of the way the team was handled under Coughlin. Tiki rationalizes this a bit in the book. Certainly players can say what they want, but regardless of what Tiki says - that players aren't paying attention to this and it's not a distraction - I don't find that very believable. Anytime you have prominent players undermining the head coach he loses respect and it will get into the mindset of the team. And maybe Tiki is right. He says he retired, at least in part, because Coughlin made him lose his desire to play and he wanted to pursue other things in his life. But all that swirling attention around the coach certainly couldn't have helped the team mentally.

Overall I found this book interesting but nothing particularly inspiring or insightful. It is Tiki's story and that, in and of itself, is interesting enough for me. For those looking for a tell all, inside story of the Giants or pro football, this is not the book for you. For those looking for X's and O's and strategy, this is not the book for you either. For those looking for a snapshot into the thoughts and life of a great NFL player, this is your ticket.

That is my review of the book but given we are talking about Tiki let's talk about things going on outside this book. Recently there has been a flap about Tiki indicating that Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, is not a good leader, in fact even making fun of Eli and his leadership abilities. Tiki is rather kind to his teammates and Eli in the book so I wonder why he taking potshots at him now. Recently in the media there are more reports of his taking shots at his old team, but I have not followed the details. Yes, as he says in his book, he can say what he wants, fine go ahead and say what you want. But when he takes swipes at his old team it makes me respect him less. Maybe it's just to get media attention because negativity sells. But I think this may reveal the underlying problem with why, in my opinion, the Giants are an underachieving team.

In this book Tiki says the Giants are a mediocre team and that the organization needs to do a better job of selecting good talent in the draft and free agency (see page 168). I beg to differ. The Giants, on paper, have an outstanding team, they simply have underperformed the past few years. Tiki Barber, Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, Eli Manning, a solid offensive line, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and a reasonably solid defensive unit is not mediocre. This team underperforms in terms of wins and losses. Whether it's a lousy coach, a young quarterback who makes mistakes, or simply poor play all around, this is not a mediocre team. It's an underachieving team, and other than its Super Bowl run, it was an underachieving team before Coughlin became the head coach. Tiki himself talks about a loss to Carolina in the playoffs where the coach showed him game film after he said "we were out coached" that showed the players missing assignments and making mistakes that cost them the game. There is something not quite right about this team beyond so called mediocrity.

Tiki's post-retirement comments might be some insight into what has been wrong with the Giants the past few years. If the players really don't respect each other, and they don't respect their coach, that is a formula for failure. Not that the Giants are failures, it's a good team, but if Tiki's comments are any indication of a wider opinion on the team, whether spoken or not, I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon.

I picked up this book with mixed feelings. Around the NY area, there are Tiki-lovers and Tiki-haters. I neither loved nor hated Tiki, I am just a Giants fan who wishes he had stayed, but understands why he left. It is his own decision, and I respect it. Sometimes I think fans want to control players lives, like they are some sort of commodity and we are on the board of directors. Life doesn't work like that.

Enough preaching, and on to my review: I loved this book. It is the type where you cannot put it down; you say to yourself, "One more chapter and I'll go to sleep," and the next thing you know it is an hour later and you've read 5 more chapters. So you keep on reading.

I think in this book the reader can really get to know Tiki. The style, pace, is as if Tiki is narrating all of this. I am not sure how much his ghost-writer contributed to this, but of all sports biographies, this seems to me the one most likely to have been penned by the athlete, with minimal editing.

Reading about Tiki's childhood, relationship with his twin Ronde, his wife Ginny, members of the team, his masseuse in the city (strictly therapy) and especially his trip to Israel and meeting Shimon Peres, it was just incredibly engaging.

I recommend this book not only to Giants fans, but to anyone who wants to read a biography of someone who has a positive attitude, isn't scared to speak his mind, and wants to better himself and society. I respect Tiki a lot more, and to me he is no longer #21 hiding under a helmet, or the stud runningback on my fantasy team, he is a real person about whom I really know something.

Dear Tiki, the reviewers on this site who labeled your book as self-serving could not be more spot-on. All I had to read were a few pages of your book, starting on page 59, where you talk about a dear friend of mine from college (yes, I went to Virginia and was in the class of '97 with you). If you were trying to prove that you've faced adversity in your life, this was not the appropriate way to accomplish this. You exploited a short-lived relationship with my friend and as a result completely disrespected her. If you want anyone to believe that you grieved after her death, you should have first spelled her name correctly. This was one of a few inaccuracies I quickly discovered. I always thought you were a very nice person in college but now, I unfortunately can't look at you on TV without feeling a little ill. Next time, do your homework. Better yet, consider the lives and feelings of others before your own. These few pages in your book were disgraceful.

Tiki Barber's self-serving and ultimately exhausting ode to himself offers very little redeeming information to the reader. If you've followed the New York Giants or Tiki Barber's career, then you'll be all-too-familiar with his passive-aggressive pattern of self-love and self-promotion.

For a smart guy (and clearly Tiki is an intelligent man), his emotional-intelligence has to be questioned. Wellington Mara, the deceased patriarch of the Giants liked to say "Once a Giant, Always a Giant." How ironic that while he has always spoken highly of Mr. Mara, Tiki's actions and words would have surely disappointed him.

Tiki has the credibility and the intellect to have written an important sports book comparable to Jim Bouton's Ball Four or Sparky Lyle's Bronx Zoo. Unfortunately for the reader, (and perhaps fortunately for the current Giant players and coaches that Tiki has criticized to advance his new career in broadcasting), the author uses the book to further promote and discuss his favorite topic: himself.

The unintentional laughter generated from the "Tiki interviewing Tiki" part of the book is priceless. Yes...he actually interviews himself, conjuring up a hilarious mental image of a self absorbed athlete interviewing himself in the mirror. He also includes a cringe-inducing topless picture of himself staring into the camera, which made this reader guffaw with laughter, clearly missing the target audience by a wide-margin.

Ultimately, I think society would have gotten by without this one.

I really liked this book. I found Tiki's writing to be very intelligent, interesting and thoughtful.

I am not a big sports fan...though my daughter married into a sports-loving family--but I found Tiki's story to be positive...and to repeat myself, interesting. I learned more about football...and the fact that many football players and other athletes are very well educated. I also learned more about the injuries football players sustain...and of Tiki's own attempts to minimize or even prevent injuries through training...and with the help of a chiropractor, masseuse, and acupuncturist.

I liked learning how he made plans to ultimately transition out of playing football to become a sportscaster for NBC. He also told an interesting story about meeting the President of Isreal, who invited him to visit Isreal, which he did.

And his family life was interesting...that he has a twin brother, Ronde, also a football player...and that the two of them have co-authored six children's books. Tiki and his wife have two sons and Ronde and his wife have two daughters. Tiki strives to be a good role model to his children.

For a person who grew up watching Tiki Barber in college and the NFL it was fun for me to read his thoughts on life on and off the field. By reading this book and hearing Barber and his brother Ronde talk on TV here and there, it is easy to see that they were raised right and Tiki doesn't fail to mention that his mommy, Geraldine, had a lot to to do with the way he and Ronde developed as men.

Tiki is a diverse and well rounded man (look at the cool vocabulary words he uses throughout this memoir). This book was 229 pages of a man who looks at the world around him and not just about what goes on the football world. So do yourself a favor and get this book because you will learn why it was his decision and no one else's on why her retired at 31. He intimated that outside of football 31 is young but in football its geriatrics at his best.

Thank you Tiki for this book and showing the world there are many Black men out there who aren't stereotypes and who live the clean life or at least try to. Oh yeah his sons AJ and Chason are too adorable for words.

I was born and raised in Vinton, VA, just outside Roanoke. I have always followed the careers of both Ronde and Tiki Barber. I am proud that two local guys have done well for themselves--they deserve it! I enjoyed the book, even though I admit to skimming the detailed football games! My problem with Tiki's book is how he made Roanoke, Va seem in the country. He calls it rural and semi-rural a couple of times. He even says at one point that he wasn't sure that Roanoke had a limo service when he graduated from Cave Spring High School in 1993! You've got to be kidding!!! I graduated from smaller William Byrd High in Vinton in 1991 and I am sure we had limos for prom. Please, Tiki, don't act like you came from the sticks. This is Roanoke, not far southwest Virginia!!!

It was an excellent book, but after I finnished reading the book it left me with alot of questions. Which some you just can't bare not to find the answer and you keep searching and searching, but still can't find the answer. That was one of the things that bothered me in this book. One thing that you mite enjoy it as much as I did, at the end of the book there is a section of the book with all of his stats and records. He is one of the best running backs ever to play the game. He is compared to Barry Snders,and alot more of the famous or to be famous running backs. One thing you mite not like is that he criticizes Tom Coughlin because of his practice style that every body should have th same drills as every other player if tour a rokie, bench warmer, star, or hall of famer you have the same practice as every body else.

For Giants fans only - I like Tiki a little bit more after reading his book. He is full of himself and uses a bunch of 25 cent words, but he was a heck of a running back. I would still get a Barber #21 jersey after I got a Strahan and Headen one.

comes out just as his last season did.. no i in team.. just me.. sabotogeing last season by worrying about himself..
tiki