After a year of losses, Barber gets fresh start

The 2006 season brought Ronde Barber a 4-12 record and his brother's retirement.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published September 5, 2007

Ronde Barber (left) greets brother Tiki, who played for the Giants last season, after the game. Tiki retired at the end of the season to pursue a television career.
	[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images (2006)] Ronde (left) and Tiki Barber co-host a show on Sirius Satellite Radio every Tuesday at 7 p.m. called the Barber Shop.

TAMPA - At the end of last season, Ronde Barber had a hard time dealing with all the losses.

Not only were there the 12 games the Bucs lost during a dismal 2006 season, but his twin brother, Tiki, played his final NFL game. For the first time in his life, it left Barber to face the prospect of not sharing with his identical sibling the experience of playing football.

Really, what did Barber have to feel good about?

But it didn't take long for the four-time Pro Bowl cornerback to reconcile himself to the disappointments of 2006 and turn his attention to a fresh start in 2007.

"It was a pretty pathetic feeling at the end of a 4-12 season," Barber said. "It was a sense of hopelessness and helplessness and just poor feelings toward this. But the offseason has been good. I felt better going into this offseason than I did finishing last season.

"I feel good."

Midway through 2006, Tiki announced his plan to retire at the end the season. Though the timing made waves within the Giants organization, it gave Ronde time to think about continuing his career alone. He does not anticipate a wave of emotion when the Bucs open the season Sunday in Seattle.

"It's kind of just permeated itself into being," said Barber, who continues to co-host a weekly radio show with Tiki, the Barber Shop, on Sirius at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. "It's not even an issue. Or it doesn't feel like an issue. I don't know what it's going to be like on Sunday.

"I've always sort of been in my own place, even with Tiki playing. He was obviously a big bonus for me emotionally. Watching him play was something to make me love football even more. But I'm ready for it."

One thing Barber is not ready for is retirement. Unlike Tiki, who gave up the game in his prime to pursue a career in television, Ronde plans to play a few more seasons. He is 32, and recently made a comment that no one wants a 35-year-old cornerback.

Monday, he revised that statement.

"Unless he's still playing very well," said Barber, who signed a five-year contract extension in 2006. "It's impossible for me to put a number on it. I don't have a plan in place like Tiki did. I can't say I haven't thought about it, but it's not my focus. I'm still driven by what I do."

Nor does he anticipate succeeding Tiki in another area: outspoken team critic. Several times in the past few years, Tiki was critical of Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Barber has the credentials to be vocal, but has a different approach.

"You can only ask Tiki so many times before his opinion is going to shine brightly through," Barber said. "Tiki never really understood the magnitude of what he was saying. Well, he understood, he just didn't care how it resonated with everybody. It was his opinion, and if you asked it, you got it honestly.

"For people who know me and are clever enough to understand what I'm saying, it comes out the same way. I'm vocal enough. I have plenty of avenues to express my opinion, so it's out there."

When it comes to coaches and teammates, he prefers to keep his comments inhouse.

"The people I need to talk to hear from me, and that's definitely the way I like it," he said.

Barber also likes the impact an infusion of young talent is having on the Bucs. It reminds him of a time when Tampa Bay was a franchise on the rise.

"I think we grew as a team this offseason, especially some of the young guys," he said. "I can see them starting to come around. And that's what it takes to have a good football team. That's what we had when I got here, young guys stepping up and setting their place on this team. I think I feel that a little bit."

Joanne Korth can be reached at korth@sptimes.com or 727 893-8810.

[Last modified September 4, 2007, 23:12:22]