He has since moved on to being a television personality, but it wasn’t long ago that one of the most valuable players on the New York Giants was their running back Tiki Barber. Barber was taken by the Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft and went on to play ten seasons before retiring while still at a very high level of play. How good was he though? He was voted a 1st team All-Pro in only one season, 2005 and made three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2004-2006. He never led the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards per attempt, or rushing yards per game. But, he was versatile and thanks to great pass catching skills did lead the league twice in yards from scrimmage (2004, 2005) and once in all-purpose yards (2005).

When it comes to the impact he made on the Giants though, it is quite substantial. Tiki Barber came to the Giants in 1997 but after backing up players like Charles Way, Tyrone Wheatley, and Gary Brown during his first few seasons and then splitting duty with Ron Dayne during the next couple of years, he didn’t get the opportunity to make his mark on the team until the 2000 season when he rushed for his first 1,000 yard season. During his ten years with the Giants he only had six seasons in which he started 12 or more games at running back. How good were those seasons though in terms of New York Giants history?

Tiki Barber has five of the top seven seasons in terms of rushing yards put up by a New York Giants running back. Here is that list:

1. Tiki Barber - 2005 - 1860 Yards
2. Tiki Barber - 2006 - 1662 Yards
3. Tiki Barber - 2004 - 1518 Yards
4. Joe Morris - 1986 - 1516 Yards
5. Tiki Barber - 2002 - 1387 Yards
6. Joe Morris - 1985 - 1336 Yards
7. Tiki Barber - 2003 - 1216 Yards

Though there is a good amount of debate concerning how good Tiki Barber was when measured up against the rest of the league, there is no debate as to how valuable he was to the New York Giants.