Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber has no personal beef with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., but he is glad the team traded him to the Cleveland Browns earlier this year.
Speaking to reporters at CC Sabathia’s celebrity softball game on Thursday, Barber indicated the trade may benefit both sides equally.
“I think Odell wanted to go and [general manager] Dave Gettleman and the New York Giants acquiesced,” Barber said via the New York Post. “He’s in a better place. And I think it may actually be OK for the Giants he’s not here. He wasn’t reaching his potential. He felt like he was being constrained, either by the offensive play-calling or whatever it may have been. He wasn’t happy.
“I thought it was the right thing [to do]. I don’t know if it was the best thing [to do], because he’s a brand and iconic in ways I don’t know if a Giant player has ever been since [Lawrence Taylor]. But football is not about an individual. It’s about a team. And I think the Giants are trying to build a great team right now.”
In addition to defending Dave Gettleman’s decision to trade Beckham away, Barber also surprised by offering his support for the Daniel Jones pick.
Interestingly, Barber shared his support of the Jones pick by likening the rookie to quarterback Eli Manning, whom the running back repeatedly criticized following his retirement in 2007.
“If you love somebody, you take him where you can get him,” Barber said. “Whether or not Dave Gettleman knew whether or not someone was going to take him before 17 is irrelevant. They love Daniel Jones. If you ever met him or had any conversations with him like I have, you see why.
“He’s calm. It’s interesting. If you would’ve asked me. . . 13 years ago [before Barber retired], what it takes to be successful as a quarterback in the NFL, I wouldn’t have said it’s Eli’s demeanor. But it’s Eli’s demeanor that it takes to be successful. Daniel Jones is kind of a clone of that in a lot of ways. He has his own personality, but there are a lot of similarities.”
Occasionally, pigs will fly. And ever since Giants head coach Pat Shurmur opened the doors back up to Barber, his tune toward the team has changed drastically.
It’s both refreshing and welcomed.
