After having an illustrious career with the New York Giants before retiring from the NFL in 2006, former running back Tiki Barber has become an American sports media and broadcasting personality. Barber recently replaced long-time radio and television personality Craig Carton as the host of WFAN’s Evan and Tiki.
The two recently hosted fellow WFAN radio personality Joe Benigno to discuss the state of the New York Jets and their quarterback Zach Wilson, and things escalated rather quickly during the show:
Tiki Barber calls "bull****" and walks off the show after Joe Benigno accuses him of hating the Jets. (H/T: @JimmyTraina) pic.twitter.com/rGlEg0PtQy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 25, 2023
The two were debating whether or not the Jets need to move on from Wilson and if the Jets poor start can be attributed to his poor play. Barber found himself on the side of defending Wilson, suggesting the Jets should not be so quick to give up on the player they selected with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. On the other hand, Benigno seems to have seen enough from Wilson to move on.
Benigno stated that Barber only feels the way he does because of his disdain for the Jets franchise as someone who played for the opposing New York football team during his playing career. “You hate the Jets. You would love to see the Jets go 2-15. Stop it. You’re a Giant, Benigno shouted during the debate. “If this was the situation with the Giants, you’d be screaming to get Wilson the hell out of there,” Benigno added.
After going back and forth for a little, Barber gave up. Benigno was unwilling to see Barber’s perspective, so the latter decided to walk off his own show. “Alright, Joe. Sounds good. I’m turning my mic off, buddy,” Barber stated before walking off the set.
“People can believe that I hate the Jets all they want,” Barber mentioned after the fact. “But I had to go calm myself down with some Dunkin,” he said in response to his decision to cut off the conversation with Benigno prematurely.
