A Virginia Giant on and off the field

-- Tiki Barber sits where he does now -- pretty much on top of the world -- because he sat so much in his first few seasons in the National Football League.

Barber, a native of Roanoke and graduate of the University of Virginia, played 10 seasons for the New York Giants.

He left at the top of his game. Then, he moved seamlessly into his new life, working for NBC on the Today Show and as a sports broadcaster and analyst.

The transition from professional athlete to the real world is not always smooth. Barber has made it look easy.

"Honestly, it comes from not being very successful at football early in my career," said Barber, who spoke at Collegiate School yesterday. "My first couple of years in the NFL, I got my first major injury in my life. I tore my PCL [posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee].

"It changed my game, and it took a while to adjust. I went from being a starter to being a third-down back and punt returner."

And that forced Barber and his business manager to consider life without football.

"My manager, Mark Lepselter, told me, 'Tiki, I want to divorce you from the game of football. I want you to be successful at it, but I don't want your life to be dependent on it.'

"I started doing media. Radio shows. Morning television on WCBS in New York."

Barber, 33, spent his off-seasons waking at 3:30 a.m. so he could work in morning television in New York. During the regular season, he continued his early-morning hours, rising again at 3:30 on his one day off, Tuesdays, to appear on the Fox News Channel.

"And, coincidentally, I started getting better at football," Barber said.

Barber went from being a role player early in his career to being a franchise player late in his career. He retired after the 2006 season with 10,449 yards rushing, tops on the Giants' all-time list. He also caught 586 passes, second-best for a franchise that has been in operation since 1925.

When he becomes eligible in 2011, he undoubtedly will be considered for membership in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Maybe, maybe," Barber said.

He was at Collegiate yesterday for an afternoon and evening of activities revolving around the school's Centennial Campaign, a capital campaign with a goal of raising $54 million. He was calm, poised and unfailingly polite to everyone he met.

Barber is not just a former football player and television news star. He and his twin brother, Ronde, also a U.Va. graduate and a defensive back for the Tampa BayBuccaneers, are published authors. They have written three books for an elementary school audience -- Barber calls them picture books -- and two "chapter books" for middle-schoolers.

They have completed another manuscript for the older age group and have a contract for two more chapter books.

Yesterday, he read "By My Brother's Side," the Barber brothers' first book, to thirdand fourth-graders at Collegiate.

Barber has come quite a distance, literally and figuratively, from his single-parent childhood in Roanoke. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two young sons. He travels extensively and is in demand to make public appearances.

He is on the boards of several charities, and he and Ronde have made significant financial contributions to the University of Virginia.

It would be understandable if he wanted to cast aside his football days and be known for his broadcasting, writing and philanthropic work.

"A year ago, I would have told you, 'Yes,'" he said. "I would have hoped people would forget I was a football player and see me for what I want to be in the future.

"But what I've found is that a little bit of familiarity helps. People trust me because they know me. When I sit down to interview somebody, they feel completely comfortable. I don't think football will leave me. I just hope it will be an accent on all the things I try to do."
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .