Tiki Barber reveals he's expecting baby with new wife

Tiki Barber has revealed he and the 23-year-old former NBC intern he left his pregnant ex-wife for three years ago are expecting their first child together.

The former New York Giants running back —who married one-time mistress Traci Johnson in a civil ceremony in a New York City Hall ceremony in July, eight days after his divorce to his wife of 11 years, Ginny, became final — boasted that he will be dad one more time.

Speaking on the women's gab-fest "Bethenny," the 37-year-old Barber said that his fifth child, and Johnson's first, was due in December before rubbing his young bride's belly as the live audience applauded. The episode will air this coming Tuesday.

The former Giants' lightning bolt running back turned lightning rod pariah had to endure the wrath of many fans after leaving his first wife in 2010, even though she was eight months pregnant with twin girls, after beginning an affair with Johnson.

At the time of the affair, Barber was working for NBC's "Today" show with ambitions to be a serious journalist, but lost his job soon afterwards when his contract wasn't renewed. His poor interviewing skills and dull camera presence didn't help his cause.

The affair with the former NBC intern and Maxim pinup girl did not help endear him to football viewers either, as public opinion against Barber had already been lukewarm.

Before he became gossip fodder, Barber infuriated Giants fans when he questioned the techniques of head coach Tom Coughlin and the leadership skills of the Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, both of whom since gone onto to win two Superbowl championships with the Giants — each without Barber in the picture.

Giants fans lustily booed the former NFL star when Barber was inducted into the Giants' Ring of Honor in October 2010.

Before his secret affair with Johnson became public, Barber was thought of as a committed family man, already the father of two sons and the expectant father of twin daughters.

And last year he insulted New York's Jewish community by comparing the clandestine affair with Johnson conducted inside a friend's attic as akin to the harrowing tale of Anne Frank.

Tiki Barber: Eli is better than big brother Peyton

It sounds like the feud between Tiki Barber and Eli Manning has taken an about face and now the former Giants running back is singing the praises of Eli — going as far as to call him a better quarterback than his brother Peyton.

Barber, who co-hosts the Morning Show with Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobsen on the CBS Sports Radio Network, said on Wednesday's show that he thinks Eli is better than Peyton.

"The expectation was that he was never going to be Peyton. I remember having these conversations with people who watched Eli in college, saying, 'He's good, but he's never going to be Peyton, he's not Peyton.' Guess what? I think he's better than Peyton," Barber said. "Because of clutch. What matters in sports? It's winning and losing. You get to the stage and what do you do? Eli's gotten there and he's won."

For the record, Eli's career postseason record is while big brother's is 9-11.

Barber, who played with —and criticized — Eli for three seasons in New York, didn't stop there. He also said Eli could be in the conversation for top-five quarterback of all time if he has a couple more successful seasons.

"For Eli to crack the top five of all time, he's got to have a 2011 [type] season a couple more times and win another Super Bowl and be Super Bowl MVP, and then I think he's in the discussion for the top five [quarterbacks] of all time," Barber said.

It's quite a turn for the Giants' pariah. Barber publicly questioned Manning's leadership abilities back in 2007 — after Barber retired. When Eli responded, the fight was on. 

Barber was quoted as saying that when Eli tried to give motivational pre-game speeches, he sounded "comical." When Manning heard the comments from Barber, he replied that maybe Barber should take a look at himself first, because Barber's pending retirement had served as a distraction all season long.

Manning went on to win the first of his two Super Bowls that season while Barber watched from his couch.

Since then, Manning has gone on to become one of the most-respected elite quarterbacks in the NFL while Tiki has pretty much faded from view and favor with Giants fans.

In 2011, Manning threw 29 touchdown passes on the way to leading the Giants to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots, the second Super Bowl win of Eli's career. Eli's 4,933 passing yards in 2011 is the eighth-highest single-season total in NFL history and is 233 yards more than Peyton's best single-season performance. Something even Barber has to acknowledge.

"As much as you want to try and diminish what he's done, you can't," Barber said of Manning. "Every stat and conversation point supports what he's done."

Manning Bowl III is set for Sept. 15 when they meet at MetLife Stadium and Peyton goes for the sweep.

And, just maybe, there will be a Giants-Broncos matchup in Super Bowl XLVIII in the same place to settle the argument once and for all.

Tiki Barber gets married 8 days after divorce is finalized

Former New York Giant Tiki Barber scored a new wife after getting married to Traci Lynn Johnson at the  City Marriage Bureau in downtown Manhattan yesterday.

The former running back showed he still has a little speed left in his 38-year-old body and tied the knot with his 23-year-old former intern—  just eight days after his divorce was finalized.

Barber ditched his then-wife, Ginny, in 2010 for Johnson, a Maxim pinup girl and former intern at NBC, where he worked on the "Today" show.  His wife was eight-months pregnant with the couple's twins at the time.

The newlyweds said they planned to get married on May 12 in the Hamptons, but the divorce wasn't finalized and the wedding had to be postponed.

Barber was fired from the "Today" show and credits Johnson for getting him through a tough period of his life.

"I have a wonderful girlfriend who loves me and got me through the bad times," he said last year.

Thursday's "I dos" at the City Clerk's Office were attended by only the couple's closest friends and family, including his twin brother Ronde who is a defensive back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After the nuptials, Barber tweeted a photo of the couple with these sentiments: "Many thanks to the NYC Clerk's office, especially James Mitchell who married me to my love Traci Lynn."

Barber attempted an NFL comeback last season but didn't get a tryout with a single team.

Giants Super Bowl XLII Ring On Sale For $47,995

A diamond-studded Tiffany ring presented to one of the New York Giants players after the team upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII is up for sale.

All it takes to get one of the historic ring is a deep-burning love of Big Blue and $47,995.

Tiki Barber, are you listening? 

"For whatever reason, back in 2008, we received eight players selling their rings within six months after they received them," Tim Robbins of Champions-Rings.net.  "The majority of them were still playing for the team, which is rather unusual."

According to the New York Daily News, one of Robbins clients bought the  ring back then, but last November, looking to turn a profit, decided to sell the ring back.  It now sits on a shelf among 1,200 or so championship rings that range from NCAA Championships to the Super Bowl.

Robbins said the rings are also awarded to team staff members— which are different from the ones the players recieve— and he was kind of surprised by the number of Giants that season who were looking hock their bling.

If you are a fan of TV's Pawn Stars, you already know that the players' rings are more valuable than the staff's.

The white gold and diamond rings are manufactured by the same famous silversmith that also makes the Lombardi Trophy every year.

"The Giants rings, being made by Tiffany, it was a little surprising to see that many," said Robbins.  "But there are so many die-hard New York Giants fans that it didn't take that much time to sell them at all."

"And if you wear this out," Robbins said.  "It's the best icebreaker in the world."

But this is a special ring— nicknamed a "10-table ring" by former Giants player Michael Strahan because he wanted people ten tables away to see his pride and joy.

Robbins said the ring has been on the market for over three months and blames the slow economy for it sitting on the shelf so long.  Normally, Giants rings "don't have a tendency to last that long," he said.

In 2008, when the rings were presented to the Giants players, they had a value of over $25,000.  The face of the ring features three Super Bowl trophies— one for each of the team's titles.  One side is engraved with the score of the game (Giants 17, Patriots 14) and the other side says "Eleven Straight on the Road" in reference to the NFL record set by the team in 2007.

 Strahan, Eli Manning, Amani Toomer and Shaun O'Hara were all consultants on the design of the ring.

Players sell their rings for a variety of reasons claims Robbins and it's not always financial hardship.

"You have players where their religion prohibits them from wearing jewelery," he said.  "So they just don't need the ring."

Robbins stands by his firm's privacy policy and won't disclose the name of the player who came in and unloaded his ring.  He just said the unnamed player wasn't a starter in the Super Bowl.

One person we can definitely leave out of that discussion is good ol' Tiki.

Tiki Barber Gets NFL Job... Sort Of

Tiki Barber is ready to talk about the New York Giants once again.  The outspoken former Giants running back has signed with SportsNet New York to work on a special postgame show after Sunday's NFC Championship game.

The controversial Barber— who was dumped as a reporter by NBC in 2010 and was last seen trying to make an NFL comeback with no suitors at the beginning of the 2011 season— will be in a studio commenting on the Giants play.

"I am looking forward to providing my insights," Barber.  "Hopefully, it will be after a Giants win."

Barber came under fire by Giants fans for criticizing his former teammates and head coach during and after his playing days with the franchise.

The former player called head coach Tom Coughlin's coaching style "demeaning" and said the coach was "always trying to vilify me."

What's ironic though, is that Barber's two of his most prominent targets— quarterback Eli Manning and Coughlin— are still on the team and one win away from making their second Super Bowl appearances.

Barber, the Giants all-time leading rusher, retired following the 2006 season— right before the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2008.  Barber, himself, never even made it to the big game as a player.

Following his retirement, Barber joined NBC Sports as reporter on its "Football Night in America" show— where he criticized Manning's leadership skills— and worked as a reporter on the "Today" morning show and was maligned for his awkward, uninteresting journalistic style.

He was dumped by NBC in 2010 after he admitted to an affair with an intern while his wife was pregnant with twins.

While Barber has made amends with Manning— by calling the quarterback a leader who " always does something to help the team win"— don't expect a one-on-one with Coughlin.

Just this week, the head coach refused to meet face-to-face with Barber who was reaching out to bury the hatchet with his former coach.

I think Coughlin had more important things on his mind.

The thought of Barber's insights on a team still remembers his big grin and even bigger whines might make Giants fans throw up a little; but they can take solace in the fact that he is 3,000 miles away from the action.

Tiki Barber's Fiancee Goes Blue For Maxim

Even though former-New York Giants running back Tiki Barber still can't find a job in the NFL, it doesn't sound all that bad hanging around the Barber household all day.

Barber's fiancee, Traci Lynn Johnson, showed off a lot of the reasons Tiki left one set of twins for another in a revealing photo shoot for Maxim magazine.

For those of you picturing an unshaven Tiki, lying on the couch in a dirty bathrobe, sulking about his failed NFL comeback-- don't!  There isn't even a stitch of terry cloth involved.

In the upcoming issue, Johnson confessed that she and the ex- Big Blue make the most of their home life by knocking down shots and hanging around the house naked.

"You definitely have to keep up on the tequila shots [with me] the 24 year-old beauty told the magazine, according to the New York Post.

When Barber downs a few,  Johnson said "he likes to walk around the house naked."  And as we can see by her photos, it shouldn't surprise any one that she's not shy about going in the buff too.

"I do too-- so that's why we're such a good match," she cooed.

If Tom Coughlin knew that's all it took to make Barber happy, maybe they could have been a happy couple too.

Barber, 36, who hadn't played in the NFL since 2006, hoped to make a comeback this season by working himself into shape, but only the Miami Dolphins took a peak at the Giants' all-time leading rusher.

Since leaving the Giants, Barber had a failed stint as an NBC reporter and a divorce.

NBC is where he met Johnson-- who was working as an intern.  Barber dumped his then-pregnant-with-twins wife of 11 years for the sultry intern.

For now, it looks like the sexy, tattooed Johnson will be the breadwinner for the two.  Patron doesn't come cheap, but at least they'll save on the clothing bills.

Eli Manning: Giants Would Take Back Ex-Con Plaxico Over Ex-TV Host Tiki

Eli Manning was asked if the New York Giants players had to chose between former Giants wide-out Plaxico Burress or former running back Tiki Barber returning to the team, the Giants quarterback said he believes the recently released ex-con, Burress, would be more readily accepted than the ex-"Today" show reporter.

According to the New York Post, Manning, speaking on the Dan Patrick Show, claimed Barber slammed the door on his Giants career when he bolted the team for a career in broadcasting.

Even though there is little chance either Burress or Barber will return to the team, Manning said at least Plax chipped in by catching the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII and the Giants players have long and heartfelt memories of the victory and Burress' part in it.

Manning thinks Burress stands a better chance of joining the G-Men; even after a 20-month stint in the joint.

Mike Francesa Calls Tiki Barber's NBC Career a "Failure"

 The Tiki Barber Comeback Tour keeps getting better and better.  For the most part of a thirty minute radio interview on Wed., interviewer Mike Francesa ripped the ex-New York Giants running back and called Barber's broadcast stint on NBC a "failure."

Barber, who went on the WFAN show to discuss his plans for returning to the NFL this upcoming season after a four year retirement, went on the defensive after Francesa commented on Barber's release from NBC and his presumed grooming to be the next Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. 

"I don't consider my time at NBC a failure," said Barber.

"The guys at NBC, and I know all of them, they felt you did a bad job, and they said you thought you were entitled, said Francesa.

The radio host probably knows something.  Francesa does a Sunday night show in the same NBC building where the "Today" show broadcasts from.  Word travels fast in 30 Rock.