The Thin Blue Line Between Pariah and Legend

Editor's Note: Like I mentioned, I don't want this to become a Giants blog. But the subtext for this is two different Giants players. Hopefully this reads as more of a reflection on heroes and pariahs than on these two guys specifically.

For about 10 years, the New York Giants were defined by two players. Both these guys had good years and bad. Each presided over very good teams, very bad teams, and most of all, very inconsistent teams. They both loved Jim Fassel. they both hated Tom Coughlin. They were both dogged by the criticism that neither of of them were big time players, and that the Giants problems directly stemmed from their lack of leadership. They retired a year apart, each having squabbled with the front office, the media, and the fans throughout the long careers in New York. They each left the game having played for no other teams, and owning numerous Giants records.

But today, one guy is considered an all-time great Giant and is revered by many as their favorite player of all time. Everytime he appears on the screen at Giants Stadium he is cheered loudly.

The other guy has only publicly set foot in the stadium once since his retirement. He was loudly booed. Anytime his picture shows up on the Jumbotron, fans react with hatred to a guy that holds the all-time rushing and all-time yardage record for the franchise.

So, despite their similar careers, what causes Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber to be viewed so differently by an entire fan base?

The faces of the 2000's Giants, now viewed through very different lenses.












As late as September of 2007, there was almost no difference in how both men were viewed. Tiki, coming off some career years, announced his retirement in the middle of the 2006 season. After the Giants were eliminated, he moved right into a job with NBC's Sports and News divisions. Michael Strahan was still technically with the Giants, but was still holding out a week before the season began, threatening to retire. He was coming off a season in which he missed 6 of the team's final 7 games, and created a media firestorm by screaming at a female reporter. Neither guy had won anything, save for an NFC Championship in 2000. They had both been openly critical of their head coach and new QB in 2004.

But then 2007 happened. Barber, freshly into his media gig, called his former teammate Eli Manning "comical" and seemed to be intent on making headlines ripping on his old team. He stood on the Giants opponent's sideline in a playoff game (admittedly that team did have his brother on it). Strahan meanwhile ended his holdout, was the leader of a surprising defense, and was instrumental in the Giants shocking Super 42 win. He retired right after, a Super Champion, and immortal in the eyes of Giants fans who'd just watched the most amazing season of their lives. And only 6 months earlier, he's been regarded as just as much of a primadonna baby as Tiki.

Fair or not, 2007 permanently changed the public perception of Michael Strahan...and Tiki Barber.





More important than these two guys is the point this illustrates about just how little can seperate being a hero and being a pariah. In 2005, Tiki was the number one guy in the hearts of Giants fans, and the one with the promising media career. Michael Strahan was just another all-star in New York, on the level of Jessie Armstead, and nowhere near Giant defensive legends of years gone by. If he retires in 2006, after what would have been 14 years in the NFL, he wouldn't be embraced nearly as much. Tiki on the other hand has ruined all the goodwill a 10 year career built up by a comment that came at the exact wrong time, sine it made him a punchline to the story of a title team. But nothing Tiki said makes his rushing totals less impressive, or his career any less spectacular. It just makes him less likeable.

And that's what makes being a legend to the fans so hard to define. Roger Clemens is by all accounts one of the greatest pitchers of all time, but none of the fanbases he's played for embrace him. Joe Namath on the other hand spun a mediocre career (look at the numbers) into a legacy, simply by making one bold prediction. There's no logical way to determine who ends up a "local legend" and who ends up just another guy, or worse, an outcast. A guy could play 15 great years and ruin it in retirement by being a jerk. Or a guy can be only slightly above average, but somehow capture the hearts of fans in a particular town and live on that forever. It's one of those great things about sports you can't quantify.


 

He's easily mocked, but in his day, Tiki Barber was one of the best backs in the league. More people remember his fumbles and controversial post-football career. 






Now that Tiki's coming back, I'm beginning to appreciate the player he was more. The guy was a warrior, who won the Giants games they had no business winning. Couple that with some of the QB's and O-Lines the guy played behind, and it's a miracle he had the success he did. I still don't forgive him for what he's dais in the past, but I do hope that one day he can show up at Giants Stadium and not be booed. Because he is one of the all-time great Giants, whether we wish he was or not.