Media blitz: Former Giant Tiki Barber getting blasted for Anne Frank analogy
New York, NY, United States (AHN Sports) – Tiki Barber may not get hit any harder in his comeback attempt than he has for his recent comments.
The former New York Giants running back, who is ending a four-year retirement to return to the NFL, is under full attack from local media after an analogy he made to Holocaust victim Anne Frank during an interview this week with Sports Illustrated.
At one point in the article, Barber describes going into hiding with his girlfriend after his well-publicized breakup with his then-pregnant wife. Barber and his girlfriend ended up in the attic of the home of the player’s agent, Mark Lepselter.
“Lep’s Jewish,” Barber told Sports Illustrated. “And it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing.”
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, described Barber’s comment as “outrageous and perverse.”
“Holocaust trivialization continues to spread and finds new ways and expressions that shock the conscience,” Foxman said in a news release. “Tiki Barber’s personal behavior is his business. But our history and experiences are ours and deserve greater respect than being abused or perverted by Tiki Barber.
“The analogy to Anne Frank is not funny, it is outrageous and perverse. Anne Frank was not hiding voluntarily. Before she perished at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, she hid from the Nazis for more than two years, fearing every day for her life.
“The Frank family’s experiences, as recorded in Anne’s dairy, are a unique testimonial to the horrors of the Holocaust, and her life should never be debased or degraded by insensitive and offensive analogies.”
However, Lepselter came to his client’s defense Thursday.
“In a world where nothing surprises me, where things get completely blown out of proportion, this only adds to the list,” Lepselter told ESPNNewYork.com. “[Tiki] was shedding light on going back to that time when he was literally trapped, so to speak, in my attic for a week. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Let me remind all those who want to make this more than it is: Tiki was a guest of [president] Shimon Peres in Israel five years ago.”
The 36-year-old Barber announced in March that he is making a comeback. The Giants still own the rights to Barber, the team’s all-time leading rusher with 10,449 yards. However, the team has said it will release him as soon as the NFL’s labor situation is settled.
His once promising television career has stalled, perhaps prompting his decision to return to play what is probably the most physically punishing position in all sports despite advanced age.
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