Strength of Character: Tiki Barber

I've written often about how important it is to me to always keep in mind the things I truly value and let those be my guide.  I use the term 'things' loosely because I don't mean it to point to material things.   Anyway, I am human and it's not possible to always keep in mind those things during the actions that lead down  your path; but it is possible to do so before you go down that path or sub-path.  For instance, the job I recently undertook.  The only part that was about money was that I had enough to live.  I had higher priorities like personal growth in the industry.  The new company offered much more of this than my previous one.  So, I jumped on it.*

Recently, Tiki Barber has made it known that he will probably retire at season's end.  The Barbers (Tiki with the Giants and Ronde with the Bucs) have always seemed to be a class duo of brothers.  Tiki often talks of how he has always been off the radar, but always made sure to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him.  He attributes that mentality to his overall success.  Even as powerful of a force as he is now, the man still flies under the radar for the most part.  The only people that tend to know his value are fantasy geeks and NFL personnel.  He is at the top of his game right now and he will most likely be leaving.  It's not about money and it's not about playing time.  It's about having options.  In the shadows of Barry Sanders and Robert Smith, Tiki has heeded the advice of doctors and family.  He has clearly defined that he has several points in his life that he needs to accomplish.  His long-term health is one of them. 

I wish I could shake his hand to tell him how proud I am of him, but in reality, it's what we're supposed to do as people.  So, why would I congratulate someone for doing something they're supposed to do.  I would never shake someone's hand for opening the door for a woman or helping a child learn how to read.  Those are things we're supposed to do.  Unfortunately, those things seem like novel ideas in today's world.  We've become so robotic and P.C. that we have become scared to act on the things we should do.

I would love to hear guys like Tiki speak to young men and women in high school about money not being everything...about striving to do your best in everything but for the right reasons.  The NFL has a mentoring program fro rookies coming into the league.  Guys like this need to be part of that program to teach them that options are important because one day the game will leave them.  And as invincible as we think we are at 25, some things like getting older we can't control.  We can control being dynamic enough to always have options.

Big ups to Mr. Barber for going out on top.  Most athletes can't do it.  It's hard to leave what you spend your life crafting.  It's hard to begin that new journey.  But, no congratulations to Mr. Barber on doing what you're supposed to do.  You're just human.

*I apologize to my readers for the lack of posts recently.  It's been a busy transition process to my new position.  I will step it back up.