Giants vs. Packers: Tiki Barber's Nonsensical Support of Eli Manning Is Too Late

Tiki Barber has done some stupid things since his playing days ended in back in 2006.

He had to watch Eli Manning lead his former team to the Super Bowl the following year as an analyst for NBC and publicly criticized the quarterback’s leadership skills that season.

Barber was also not shy to talk about his dislike for coach Tom Coughlin and said that one of the reasons why he left the game was his “demeaning” style of leadership.

Now he is trying to squash his beef with Coughlin and praise Eli for his leadership.

It’s simply too late, and it’s unclear if Barber is trying to leverage a comeback with the team. He made it known he wanted to play in the NFL in 2011 and worked out for a number of teams, but he was not signed.

On the record, Tiki has said,

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"No. No. I'm not trying to come back," Barber said. "It was an excuse for me to get up off the couch and do something, and it worked, because now I'm engaged in a few different things and I feel really strong about where I am personally, and that's all that matters in life."

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Off the record, who knows?

It would technically make sense for him to try to rejoin the Giants, who are currently dueling with the Green Bay Packers for the right to play in the NFC Championship.

Their running game was the worst in the league during the regular season, and Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs were not an effective tandem on the ground.

The Giants could certainly use a back with skills like the ones Tiki used to have, but he is now far too old at 36 to be a contributor on a team that he left and bashed.

Coughlin will reportedly not meet with Tiki, and he should not waste his time trying to deal with his former running back.

He has his Giants back in the postseason, and they have already won a game against the Falcons. Now they face their toughest test and he does not need distractions like Tiki coming into his office to talk about things that happened five years ago. 

Tiki should have tried to set up a meeting with the coach in the offseason, not during the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.