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When former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL on February 1, it ignited a whirlwind of discussion and debate regarding the alleged pattern of racism and discrimination across the league’s hiring process.
The New York Giants, in particular, have been a lightning rod in these talks. At the center of Flores’ allegation, the Giants have never had a black head coach in their 97-year existence. In the words of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, “there’s no one more incriminating than the [Giants] when it comes to black coaches” in the entire NFL — words that evidently didn’t sit well with former Giants running back Tiki Barber, who vigorously opposed Smith’s take.
“I can’t sit here, with conviction, like Stephen A., who doesn’t know anybody in the Giants’ organization and claim that they’re a racist organization. I would never do that,” Barber said over the airwaves on his WFAN show “Tiki & Tierney,” via the New York Daily News.
Smith clearly didn’t take too fondly to Barber’s rebuttal, choosing to send what many have perceived as a threat to the Giants’ all-time leading rusher.
“Tiki, you don’t know who the hell I know. I’ve been a journalist for almost 30 years, I know a few people within the Giants organization. I know a lot of stuff about you, my brother, that I would never say because I have the decency not to say those things,” Smith said on a February 7 airing of ESPN’s First Take. “Chill out. Watch yourself and know who you’re talking about. That’s all I want to say.”
Tiki Responds to Smith
On February 8, During a new installment of “Tiki and Tierney,” Barber addressed Smith’s comments, appearing to offer an apology of sorts to the ESPN pundit.
“It is not worth my emotional energy to get bent out of shape about something that I have no control over,” Barber said. “I have much respect for Stephen A. Smith. He is the prominent Black journalist in sports right now, so if he felt affronted by a conversation that I was having — that wasn’t actually about him. It was about how we have used and hijacked racism to make excuses for failing diversity initiatives — then I apologize to Stephen A. Smith.”
Barber then flipped the script some, adding that “[Smith] is the prominent Black journalist on a major network, and threatening another Black man is not what this country should be about. Period.”
An Emotional Barber to the Giants’ Defense
Of course, if you’ve been keeping up with the back-and-forth between Smith and Barber — which has been an admittedly difficult task — then you know that Barber has gone to great extents to defend the Giants franchise, as well as the Mara and Tisch family on his radio show.
“The fact that the Maras, and I always said this with the Tisches as well, they embraced me like I was family. I know them intimately, so when I say I don’t believe they’re racist it’s because I know they’re not … I know they’re not a racist organization,” Barber said on February 2.
The three-time Pro Bowler also shared an emotional story recalling a time when he visited Wellington Mara at his bedside prior to the former Giants owner’s death.
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