Dez Bryant and Odell Beckham Jr are two of the best wide receivers in football. From the sound of it, former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is not impressed with either.
On Friday’s edition of “The Tiki and Tierney Show” on CBS Radio, Barber took aim at both Bryant and Beckham — not for their play on the field but their antics off of it. For starters, Barber said Bryant will be a “good” wide receiver for the next several years but will never be elite.
“He’s not going to be elite. He’s not going to be Antonio Brown. He can’t stay healthy. He cannot stay healthy. Period,” Barber said. “If you’re not consistent, to me, I’m sorry, you’re not elite. So he’s going to be there for a couple of years as a good wide receiver.
“Do you see Dez Bryant as a superstar? To me, elite is I know what I’m getting every single Sunday and there’s no question about it. I don’t see that all the time with Dez Bryant.”
Not surprisingly, Barber had some strong feelings about Bryant missing an MRI earlier this week because he feared getting bad news.
“You got all these impressionable, young men stepping into their first experience in the National Football League, and you have your best wide receiver not showing up for two days?” Barber said. “Come on. Seriously? And you’re gong to say he just didn’t want to hear bad news? No. You come down hard on him. You have to.”
As for Beckham, Barber questioned whether the Giants star cares more about himself than the team.
“He’s a look-at-me player. … They can’t allow him to just get up and say, ‘I’m going to be who I am. I’m going to do what I want to do.’ No, you’re part of a team, buddy,” said Barber. “People love you because of who you are and how you behave and how you act and the touchdowns and the celebrations. But you’re part of a team. And if you don’t recognize that, then somewhere down the line, you will not be part of the team.”
Beckham, of course, threw a mini-tantrum on the sideline last week and nearly hurt himself in the process (video here). Even Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said Beckham needs to do a better job of controlling his emotions.
Wait, so are we to understand that two of the most talented receivers in the game are also difficult personalities to handle? Wow, that’s rare.
