It’s been nearly two months since Tiki Barber engaged in a war of words with Saquon Barkley over the star running back’s decision to leave the New York Giants and sign with the rival Philadelphia Eagles.
But while the two former Giants running backs have yet to mend fences, Barber has made up with another entrant into the feud, Ryan Clark.
On Thursday, Barber made an in-studio appearance on 94WIP Afternoons in Philadelphia, where he reunited with his former WFAN boss, Spike Eskin. And when asked by co-host Ike Reese whether he and Barkley had reconciled, the three-time Pro Bowl running back admitted they hadn’t, but revealed that he had recently cleared the air with Clark.
“I saw Ryan Clark at the draft. I haven’t talked to Saquon, I don’t have his number,” Barber said. “But I saw Ryan Clark and we made up.”
“You and Ryan Clark made up? That’s good, because y’all are two of my favorites,” Reese replied. “I love Ryan and he does a great job on ESPN. But he was a little bit out of line.”
“He was commenting on something that he wasn’t a party to,” Barber responded. “It’s all good.”
The animosity between Barber and Barkley began when the 49-year-old former running back said that the Penn State product was “dead to me” when discussing his departure for Philadelphia as a free agent. While Barber was laughing while saying so, Barkley didn’t find the segment funny, taking to social media to fire back at the WFAN host, who he said had “been a hater since I got to New York.”
As for where Clark comes in, the ESPN analyst weighed in on the feud on an episode of The Pivot Podcast, claiming that Barber was a negative locker room presence when the two were teammates in New York. That prompted Barber to publicly tell Clark to “shut the hell up,” with the former NFL safety proposing a meeting between the two and WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti, who also took issue with Clark’s comments.
It’s unclear whether Barber and Clark’s run-in at the draft last week was planned or a matter happenstance, but either way, it appears to have been productive. Time will tell whether Barber’s relationship with Barkley can also be salvaged, although it’s worth noting that the new Eagles running back was slated to ring the bell ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers’ playoff matchup against the New York Knicks on Thursday night, which Barber was in town to attend.
[94WIP]
