Tiki Barber has not always been the biggest fan of Eli Manning. The former New York Giants running back has not always said the nicest thing about his old teammate, but now that the two are no longer around each other, he is singing a different tune. After years of questions the leadership and talents of Mannings, he is paying the quarterback a big compliment.
While speaking on CBS Sports Radio Network, Barber began discussing the hierarchy of quarterbacks. Barber first said that Manning could become one of the top five best quarterbacks of all time, and is already better than his brother, Peyton.
"The expectation was that he was never going to be Peyton," Barber said. "I remember having these conversations with people who watched Eli in college, saying, 'He's good, but he's never going to be Peyton, he's not Peyton.' Guess what? I think he's better than Peyton because of clutch. What matters in sports? It's winning and losing. You get to the stage and what do you do? Eli's gotten there and he's won."
Barber is right. Manning's two Super Bowl rings speak for themselves compared to brother Peyton's one ring. It is hard to compare the two quarterbacks when discussing achievements. While Eli has more Super Bowl victories, the Giants have missed the playoffs three of the last four years. Peyton may have one championship, but his teams have missed the playoffs just twice over the course of his entire career. Not to mention the MVP honors.
There is certainly a case for saying both brother are better than one another. In 2011, Eli threw for a career-best 4,933 yards and 29 touchdowns. Peyton's career-high passing is 4,700 yards in 2010. However, he is the active passing leader with 59.487 yards, ranking him third on the all-time list.
Barbers comments certainly represent a different attitude than the running back once held. After announcing his retirement in 2006, Barber took time to question the leadership of Eli, once saying the quarterback's attempt to lead an offensive meeting was comical at times. Eli responded saying he was not losing any sleep over Barber's criticism and was just focused on going out and playing good football.
Barber now believes that if Eli wins another championship, he gets put into the discussion as an all-time great.
"For Eli to crack the top five of all time, he's got to have a 2011 season a couple more times and win another Super Bowl and be Super Bowl MVP, and then I think he's in discussion for the top five of all-time," Barber said.
