One of the highlights of this week was the fiery interview between former Giants RB and failed NBC personality Tiki Barber and Mike Francesa of WFAN in New York.  The interview came about because of Tiki Barber’s publicity tour associated with his planned return to football, including his much talked about interview with HBO’s Real Sports.  That inteview was notable for Barber’s claims of depression.  This interview with Mike Francesa at WFAN in New York is much more combative and entertaining because Francesa doesn’t let Barber (and his agent, more on that in a bit) off lightly and challenges Barber on his disastrous NBC run.

Tiki Barber’s failure as “the next Matt Lauer” has been well-chronicled, and we took a glance at the rapid athlete to broadcaster career path here earlier this week.  Tiki comes off as very defensive with Francesa, refusing to acknowledge his disappointing run as a TV personality at the end of Part I below, and even has his agent on the phone to back him up (Francesa amusingly had to tell Barber’s agent, “you’re not here to be his bodyguard”).  First of all, let’s get real, having your agent on the phone with you is weak – man up and do the interview yourself.  Second of all, forgive me for not feeling too much sympathy for Tiki Barber – someone who retired from the Giants, ripped his former coach and teammates, had an affair and then left his pregnant wife for a 20-something NBC intern and babysitter, and then had the absolute gall and ignorance to compare his oppressive plight to that of Anne Frank.  The same Anne Frank that died in a Nazi concentration camp.  Please.  Although Francesa’s ego turns a lot of people off, this interview shows why he’s absolutely one of the best in sports talk radio and sports media.  The entire interview is worth a listen, even though it is a half hour in length, but the highlights are mostly in the first two parts below…   

Part I

Part II

Part III

Thanks to Ken at Fang’s Bites for sending us the audio.  

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