NORFOLK, Va. — Tiki Barber did plenty in his football career as a collegian and in the NFL. The former 3-time Pro Bowler was in town Thursday night as the headliner at the 77th annual Norfolk Sports Club Jamboree at Chartway Arena on the campus of Old Dominion University.
Barber was the keynote speaker. He was the 1996 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year as well as Offensive Player of the Year. A second round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, he spent his entire nine year career with the New York Giants.
In a new era where his position of running back has been eroding over the past few years in the NFL, he was asked what's been the cause.
"I think NFL teams and coordinators in specific want big plays", he says. "That's the easiest way to score and so how do you get big plays? You throw the ball".
The 49 year old, who's currently the Giants franchise leader in career rushing yards with 10,499 and second in career rushing touchdowns with 55, discussed today's college football landscape when it comes to student/athletes being paid through Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
Barber thought about what his 19 or 20 year old self would have done. He joked, "I'm going to do it for the purity of the sport. I'm doing it for my scholarship".
Barber then said, "Of course I would have jumped on it", but added "Who knows what it would have done to our work ethic, to our camaraderie, team work. I think its put a much greater emphasis on coaching, but it's constantly recruiting them".