Tiki Barber: Tom Coughlin Once Threw Newspapers In My Face
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Before former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber retired from the NFL, his off-the-field relationship with head coach Tom Coughlin was temperamental, to say the least.
Barber recently explained his worst confrontation with Coughlin on his show on CBS Sports Radio.
During the 2006 season, the running back's last one before announcing his retirement, the Giants got smacked by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 26-10, and Barber had only 10 carries for 27 yards.
"It was a pretty pitiful performance all the way around," Barber told co-host Brandon Tierney. "I'm shocked our running game could be this unproductive."
The Giants' career rushing leader went on to explain what happened the day after the loss.
"(Tom) Coughlin comes into my meeting room, we are watching tape the next day, and he has all these newspapers and he threw them in my face, physically," Barber told Tierney. "I was sitting down, he walked in: 'What the f--- is this?' (He) throws them in my face. I stood up. It got explicative really quickly."
"Did you drop an F-bomb?" Tierney asked.
"Try like 1,000 … Long story short, we ended up yelling at each other for 40 minutes," the three-time Pro Bowler responded. "The running backs left, the linemen were next door, the defensive linemen were on the other side, and in the end I said, 'I am outta here.'"
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As a guest on WFAN's Boomer & Carton Morning Show in June, Barber was asked if he would ever agree to attending a sit-down meeting with Coughlin.
"I would love to," the former All-Pro told Craig Carton. "It would have to be in person. I would love for you to (set that up), Craig,"
Barber has never been introverted about his relationship with his former head coach. In his book, Barber wrote that the Super Bowl-winning coach "robbed me of what had been one of the most important things I had in my life, which was the joy I felt playing football."
But the two never let their personal feelings about each other get in the way of their focus on game day.
"Here's the thing: we never, ever, ever were on different sides of the ledger on game day," Barber told Boomer & Carton. "Ever."
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