Longtime NFL running back Tiki Barber notably spent his entire playing career as a member of the New York Giants. Although earning the opportunity to play in one Super Bowl as a NFL running back, the former Giants cornerstone chose to retire relatively early and thus missed out on any additional opportunities to win a championship.
Unfortunately for Barber, who has since further explained why he ultimately chose to hand up his cleats earlier than perhaps some expected. The Giants won the Super Bowl just one year after his retirement from the NFL.
Article Continues Below“I mean, [former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin] was such a small part of it,” Barber said during a recent appearance on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, via USA TODAY Sports. “He was so hard on everybody and you felt unappreciated at times, but it was so much more than that. Maybe he was the last little straw that made me walk away from the game, but physically I was getting beat up, man.
“It would take me until Thursday to feel good again. I was getting massages on Monday and acupuncture. I would get this ART treatment and then another massage on Thursday, and then now I’m feeling all right on Friday. [Then we’d have] like a walkthrough practice and then you get beat up again and it starts over. And it was just getting hard.”
The Giants and recently retired quarterback Eli Manning infamously went on to win not one, but two championships. Both of which came within five years of Barber's retirement.