New York Giants legend Tiki Barber is not bothered by the internet's reaction to John Harbaugh's viral team speech.
In fact, he fully supports it.
Barber, now a sports radio host in NYC, told TMZ Sports that he loved the new coach's passionate address, which had many online cringing and comparing Harbaugh to a motivational speaker.
"Coach Harbaugh is exactly what he looks like," Barber said. "He's going to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
He's as excited as a lot of his players are to be here. The Giants are a historic franchise, and he wants to restore the glory.
He expressed it. I loved it.
I think that's what football players need. They need raw emotion and energy and enthusiasm, and he brings it."
Harbaugh's speech, where he hyped "the New York Giants" with intensity while players sat stone-faced, has been widely shared.
Critics called it awkward and "hard to watch," but Barber saw fire from a coach trying to wake a sleeping Giant.
Winning Still Matters
Barber acknowledged that speeches alone won't win games.
The Giants won just four games last season, and while he doesn't foresee a Super Bowl in 2026-2027, he noted that quick turnarounds are possible in the NFL.
"They're a young team, the Giants are, it's a new coaching staff, a new system, so if they are a winning team, that'll be satisfactory for this organization," he said.
"But we've seen it many times. Teams will go from worst to first very quickly.
It happened in this division a couple of years ago with the Commanders. Anything can happen.
They just got to get great play and great connectiveness, as we saw with some of the other sports teams in town this year."
One of those teams is the New York Knicks, who ended a 53-year championship drought.
It hasn't been that long for the Giants, though it may feel that way to many fans.
