Torch Tiki

Ladies and gentlemen, Tiki Barber is coming back! I'll pause to let you re-gain your composure following some excessive laughter.

Barber unexpectedly retired from the NFL after the 2006-07 season. This was a surprise because at the time he was seemingly at the top of his game. After four seasons away, he has officially filed his paperwork with the league to un-retire and return. At this, I have to raise an eyebrow.

If you read the entire first article that I linked to, you read that this is seemingly a desparation move for Tiki following some shady (and that's putting it lightly) decision making.

"Barber's personal and professional life have been in shambles recently. In April 2010, Barber reportedly left his wife of 11 years, Ginny, for 23-year-old Traci Johnson, a former NBC intern. Ginny was eight months pregnant at the time. Soon after, NBC cited its morals clause and terminated Barber's contract, which reportedly paid him more than $300,000 per year.

In June 2010, the New York Post reported Barber was broke and couldn't pay his divorce settlement with his ex-wife."

Just reading that little paragraph makes it completely obvious that Tiki was cheating on his wife. Due to that point, I have to say flat out that I do not feel sorry for Barber at all. I try not to judge people because their lives are none of my business, but cheating on a spouse crosses the line. You don't deserve good fortunes if you are going to do something as immoral as that. I tip my hat to NBC for doing the right thing and terminating Tiki's contract. It's reasons like that why "moral" clauses continue to be a part of contracts.

Seriously though, at age 35, what does Tiki Barber hope to accomplish on the field? Honestly he'll be lucky to even make an NFL roster, let alone make an impact of any kind. It'll really be interesting to see which team will even take a chance on signing him. It's already been announced that it will not be the Giants.

As I said before, this is nothing more than a desperation move. It may not be a necessity now, but it may be down the road. That's the reason for this decision. The cushy jobs are now gone so he wants to make a little money so he can ride off into the sunset and avoid getting a real job. Two to one odds says he's retired again by the start of the upcoming season (if there is one).

Because I know somebody will interpret the title wrong, I'll clear it up now. When I come up with the titles for blogs, I typically try to make either some kind of pop culture reference, or something off the wall that can somehow be related to what I'm hoping to talk about. The first thing that came to mind when thinking about Tiki Barber was a tiki torch. I could've referenced a barber pole, but "Torch Tiki" sounded better since I wasn't planning on speaking very highly of him. With that said, I still don't want to see anybody literally "torch Tiki." Don't read anything more into it because there is nothing more intended.