ELI Manning doesn’t agree to many sit- down interviews, but he did last week for NBC’s Tiki Barber, who some may remember as the best running back in Giants history.
It went well.
“It cleared the air for everybody else who think Eli and I are still at each other’s throats,” Barber yesterday told The Post. “He actually laughed about it.”
The “it,” of course, was the line the recently-retired Barber threw out there last summer, calling the young Manning’s leadership ability “comical at times.” Manning, with the most pointed comments he’s ever made, immediately shot back at Barber, who now says comical was “too strong a word.”
In five days, Manning and the Giants face the Panthers in the game of the year, with the coveted No. 1 seed in the NFC going to the victor. Barber has come out of the NBC studio for work in the field and has been assigned to the news-making Giants, who were the hot story not only because they were 11-1 but also because their best receiver shot himself in the thigh with an illegal handgun. Getting Manning to talk was easy compared with the next assignment.
Tiki wants to chat with Tom Coughlin.
“I’m trying to do an interview with him this week,” Barber said. “Put the emphasis on ‘trying to.’ I know there’s no shot, but we’ll see.”
The Panthers coming to town for a meaningful winter game brings to mind how this whole convoluted Barber mess started. The Giants of 2005 won the NFC East, but they were obliterated by the Panthers 23-0 in a wild card playoff debacle at Giants Stadium. Barber afterward calmly erupted, stating, “In some ways, we were out-coached.”
In some ways? In every way. Was it the politically-correct response? Of course not. It was taken as a shot at Coughlin, but Barber revealed he was pointing the finger at Tim Lewis, the defensive coordinator, who proved during his tenure he was overmatched.
The next season, after a loss in Jacksonville, Barber was at it again, ripping play-calling that was 4-to-1 pass-run. That was a shot at John Hufnagel, the offensive coordinator who was in over his head. Coughlin five games later finally pulled the plug, basically firing Hufnagel and promoting Kevin Gilbride. Lewis was fired following the season.
Barber left, but not before co-owner John Mara asked his honest opinion about the head coach. Barber in confidence said Coughlin was an excellent coach and should not be fired, but that he needed to lighten up and treat the people around him with more respect.
Once again, he was exactly right. Ownership demanded personality changes from Coughlin and, remarkably at 60 years old, he did just that. Barber that summer got an e-mail from a prominent player who thanked him for laying the groundwork for the Coughlin makeover. The text message: “You’d be proud of how Tom has changed. You wouldn’t even recognize him.”
A perfect storm cast Barber in a dim light. He was gone, they won the Super Bowl. It was an easy theme for the uninformed. Some players, most notably Antonio Pierce, breathed life into that storyline.
“A lot of the strain last year was because of their team captain,” Barber said.
In the locker room a few weeks ago in Washington, Barber hugged almost every player he ran into. He had dinner last Friday night with Brandon Jacobs and regularly checks in with Derrick Ward.
“People assume they all hate me . . . they don’t,” said Barber, who reveled in the Super Bowl triumph but admitted, “A lot of people tried to rob me of the joy of my former team’s success.”
The notion that he is persona non grata around the Giants is untrue.
“I have a very good relationship with Tiki,” Mara said. “I wish he had not made some of the statements he did, but I do not think this should overshadow the great career he had. He was one of the greatest players in franchise history and he did a lot of wonderful things in the community. That’s what he should be remembered for.”
Short-sighted fans boo when Barber’s highlights appear on the big screen at Giants Stadium. He calls it “people’s prerogative” and adds, “There’s no issue with anybody, except for maybe Tom.”
Perhaps a sit-down this week can fix that.
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RB Reuben Droughns was placed on season-ending injured reserve after hurting his neck last Sunday in Dallas. WR Derek Hagan was signed to replace him on the roster. Hagan, 24, was a 2006 third-round draft pick of the Dolphins out of Arizona State. In 26 games, he caught 53 passes for 643 yards and three TDs. The 6-2, 215-pound Hagan was released on Nov. 4.