The Return of Tiki Barber?

By - Kris Fletcher

In what has to be considered a surprise move, Tiki Barber, who retired from the New York Giants following the 2006 season, announced today that he plans to return to action in the 2011 season.

Photo from: nypost.com

"After seeing how much fun (twin brother) Ronde is still having, it reignited my fire and I'm looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get back to the level of where I was," Barber told FOXSports.com.

Back in October 2006, Barber announced that he would retire at the end of the season, saying he was bored with football and wanted to leave without serious injury. Now his next step is for the Giants to activate him, although they've already said once they do so, he will be released.

In his last active season, Tiki rushed for 1,662 yards, the 2nd-highest total of his career, with 234 of those yards coming in his final regular-season game. At the time of his retirement, he had 10,449 total yards rushing, 19th on the all-time NFL list at the time. As of right now, he is 22nd on that list.

It should be kinda interesting to see how this story plays out. He's been on the shelf for several seasons now, so if nothing else, he's fresh. However, He turns 36 in April and when he retired back in 2006, he was ALREADY at the age where most running backs careers begin to rapidly decline. So who, if anyone, will bother giving him a chance? We already know the Giants want no part of him.

Guess we'll see how it all shakes out in the coming months.