A day after Tiki Barber announced that he’s going to attempt an NFL comeback, the idea has been met with plenty of pessimism. It’s hard to find people who have any amount of optimism that Barber’s decision will turn out to beneficial.
The most optimistic take that we could find comes from ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk who writes that Barber may get an opportunity to fill a similar role to the one LaDainian Tomlinson has in New York.
“If all goes well on this comeback, Barber could potentially play a similar role to the one LaDainian Tomlinson did for a new team. Tomlinson carried the ball 20 times only once last season while sharing carries with Shonn Greene. Tomlinson had 52 receptions for 368 yards out of the backfield.”
This could have happened some years ago when teams still believed in the idea that aging running back’s can still be productive in their mid 30’s but we know that Barbers chances of being effective are pretty slim at this point. Tomlinson was only 30 at the start of last season and it was still considered to be somewhat of a risky move by Jets. Barber is 36 and has been out of the league for four-years.
Former Giants head coach Jim Fassel has expressed interest in bringing Barber to the UFL during an interview with New York Daily News.
“He says he wants to play in the NFL,” Fassel said. “If he wants to come play in our league, I would be happy to have him.”
The more I hear about this story the more it seems like a publicity stunt than anything else. Pro Football Talks Mike Florio mentioned the possibility that Barber’s return could be accompanied by a realty show that details the process which, if true, would make the situation pretty sad. From this point on we are only discussing teams that may have interest in Barber, we promise.
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