The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reports that Giants RB Tiki Barber (above) is signing a 4-year, $10 million contract with Disney to do something less hazardous to his health than getting beaten up 16 Sundays a year.
For ABC, Barber will be on two of its most prominent news programs. The agreement calls for Barber, 31, to work on both Good Morning America and 20/20. His exact position has yet to be fully defined.
For ESPN, his role is unknown, but Barber would figure to be a prime candidate if Tony Kornheiser were to decide to leave the Monday Night Football booth. An ESPN spokesman declined comment.
By retiring now, Barber relinquished a total of $8.3 million he was owed over the next two years by the Giants.
Instead Barber – barring an injury in the playoffs – will leave the game with his health and will make more money in total over the next four years.
Typically, Pro Football Talk takes a dim view of Tiki’s post-gridiron prospects.
It ain’t gonna work. There’s already plenty of resentment of Barber in Bristol, and the fact that the full value of his contract is being reported suggests that he or his handlers have leaked the information in order to glorify his ego and/or to justify publicly his decision to walk away from pro football.
This guy is, in our view, another Ted Baxter.
Harsh words, though if the above trip through the Time Machine is anything to go by, ABC could do far worse. For instance, bringing Tom Ellis out of retirement.