Inside Tiki Barber's Clash With Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith is known for his blistering hot takes on his show, "First Take," where he has never shied away from engaging in a war of words with pro athletes. The ESPN personality famously called out Kevin Durant in 2015 when the NBA All-Star questioned Smith's reporting. "You don't want to make an enemy out of me. And I am looking right at the camera," the TV host said on "First Take" (via For The Win). In 2022, Smith used his platform to throw the gauntlet down for Tiki Barber.

The tension between Smith and Barber stemmed from a discrimination lawsuit that was filed against the New York Giants in February 2022. NFL coach Brian Flores named the Giants and two other NFL franchises in the suit. He claimed that while the Giants brought him in to interview for a potential head coaching gig, it was a "sham," and the team only interviewed him because he was a Black coach, per ESPN. Flores alleged that he was only given a courtesy interview so the team could fulfill their obligation of interviewing a minority candidate.

A day after the lawsuit was filed, Smith went on ESPN to lambast the Giants. "There's no one more incriminating than the New York Giants when it comes to Black coaches," Smith said on "First Take" while eviscerating the team for their hiring practices. This diatribe did not go unnoticed by Barber, a former player for the Giants, who fired back at Smith.

Once the lawsuit was filed against the New York Giants and Stephen A. Smith sounded off on the franchise, Tiki Barber came to the defense of his former team. Along the way, he also threw in a little jab at the ESPN analyst. "I can't sit here, with conviction, like Stephen A. [Smith], who doesn't know anybody in the Giants' organization and claim that they're a racist organization," the retired running back said on his "Tiki and Tierney" show on WFAN in February 2022, via Complex.

Never one to run from confrontation, Smith wasted little time responding to the former Giants player. "Tiki Barber took the liberty of sounding off about me, talking about how I called the New York Giants racist and how I don't know anybody there," he said on "First Take" while defending his journalistic credentials, via Complex. Afterward, Smith went on the offensive and insinuated that he had incriminating info about Barber. "I know a lot of stuff about you, my brother, that I would never say because I'd have the decency not to say those things," Smith added.

Many Twitter users believed that Smith was making a veiled threat to the former NFL star. This led some fans to wonder how Barber would respond to Smith's menacing words. "Tiki Barber gonna run up on Stephen A Smith during Super Bowl week lol," one user wrote. Others believed Baber could take legal action. It did not take long for fans to hear Barber's response.

Only days after Stephen A. Smith had incendiary words for Tiki Barber, the former New York Giants running back addressed the ESPN personality. Instead of escalating the war of words, Barber decided to take the high road — sort of. "I have much respect for Stephen A. Smith. He is the prominent Black journalist in sports right now, so if he felt affronted by a conversation that I was having ... then I apologize to Stephen A. Smith," the NFL analyst said on his "Tiki and Tierney" podcast in February 2022, via Giants Wire.

Even though Barber appeared to bury the hatchet, he took one last parting shot at the ESPN talking head. "But that being said, he is the prominent Black journalist on a major network, and threatening another Black man is not what this country should be about," Barber added. Somewhat surprisingly, Smith did not take the bait, as he did not respond. Barber's apology appeared to end their public feud.

Besides Smith, another sports journalist took exception to Barber, defending the Giants in the wake of the discrimination lawsuit. Rob Parker of Fox Sports expressed his dismay with the former running back's stance. "Shame on Tiki Barber," he said on "The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard & Rob Parker," aired on Fox Sports Radio. "All you did was talk about how they treated YOU, smokescreen the story, steal the story," Parker added.