Historical Stats & Info
"It is the most important victory of my career." -- Head Coach Dick Voris, after the
Hoos’ 15-12 victory over Duke on September 27, 1958.  Voris finished his UVA career
with a record of 1-29.
"We've stopped recruiting young men who want to come here to be students first and
athletes second." -- Former Virginia head coach Sonny Randle, describing his strategy
for turning around UVA's football program
"As the score mounted, to 20-0 and finally 26-0, his movements slowed. With two
minutes to go and South Carolina threatening once more, Voris stood behind several
rows of substitutes, staring at his shoes." -- Sports Illustrated, describing Coach Voris’
stellar coaching performance during the Hoos’ 26-0 loss to South Carolina in 1960
"Really, Texas wasn't as good as I thought they'd be." -- Ted Manly, Virginia's
freshman quarterback, after Texas had spanked the Hoos 68-0
Canton Calling: 21 Reasons Why Tiki Barber Is a Hall of Famer
Currently, there are two former Hoos in the Pro Football Hall of Fame - "Bullet" Bill
Dudley, Virginia's first All-American, who was inducted in 1966, and former Packer great
Henry Jordan, who was inducted in 1995.  (As an aside, Virginia Tech only has one
player in the Hall of Fame. I'm just saying.)

Anyway, the Hall of Fame ceremony a few weeks back included the long-overdue
induction of Floyd Little, the multi-faceted running back out of Syracuse who played his
entire nine-season career with the Denver Broncos. Little could do it all - he was a threat
as a runner, receiver, and returner, finishing his career with over 12,000 all-purpose
yards and 54 touchdowns.   

Looking over Little's stats got me to wondering...what are Tiki Barber's chances of
becoming the third Virginia player to make the Hall of Fame? After tooling around on the
interwebs a bit, the general consensus appears to be that Tiki's chances are not...good.  
 Well, after crunching the numbers and digging deeeeep into the minutiae (a
HoosFootball.com specialty), I'm here to drop some knowledge on all you haters out
there. So without further ado, I present to you HoosFootball.com's 21 Reasons Why Tiki
Barber Is a Hall of Famer.
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UVa Football - Random Musings
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Reason #1:  In 2005, Barber rushed for 1,860 yards, second-most in the NFL to Shaun
Alexander, who finished with 1,880 yards.  Barber's rushing total included three games
of 200+ yards, making him just the third player in NFL history to have three 200-yard
rushing games in a season. (O.J. Simpson had three such games in 1973, and Earl
Campbell had 4 in 1980.)  Barber's 1,860 yards rank 12th on the NFL's single-season
rushing list and would have led the league in 64 of the previous 72 seasons.  Barber
also finished in the top-5 in rushing yards in 2004 (5th) and 2006 (4th), and he finished
in the top-10 in 2002 (7th).

Reason #2:

Barber's 1,860 rushing yards in 2005 are more than Hall of Fame running backs
Walter Payton (best season was 1,852 yards in 1977), Emmitt Smith (1,773 yards in
1995), and Marcus Allen (1,759 yards in 1985) ever amassed in a single season.  
Barber's yardage total also surpasses the career-best seasons of LaDainian
Tomlinson (1,815 yards in 2006), Edgerrin James (1,709 yards in 2000), Curtis Martin
(1,697 yards in 2004), Shaun Alexander (1,696 yards in 2004), and Jerome Bettis
(1,665 yards in 1995).

Barber's 1,662 rushing yards in 2006 are more than Hall of Fame running back Tony
Dorsett (best season was 1,646 yards in 1981) ever amassed in a single season.  
Barber's yardage total also surpasses the career-best seasons of Corey Dillon (1,635
yards in 2004), Priest Holmes (1,615 yards in 2002), and Fred Taylor (1,572 yards in
2003).

Barber's 1,518 rushing yards in 2004 are more than Hall of Fame running backs
Thurman Thomas (best season was 1,487 yards in 1992) and Jim Taylor (1,474 yards
in 1962) ever amassed in a single season.  Barber's yardage total also surpasses the
career-best seasons of Warrick Dunn (best season was 1,416 yards in 2005) and
Ricky Watters (1,411 yards in 1996).

Barber's 1,387 rushing yards in 2002 are more than Hall of Fame running backs John
Riggins (best season was 1,347 yards in 1983), Franco Harris (1,246 yards in 1975),
Leroy Kelly (1,239 yards in 1968), and Gale Sayers (1,231 yards in 1966) ever
amassed in a single season.  Barber's yardage total also surpasses the career-best
season of Marshall Faulk (best season was 1,382 yards in 2001).

Reason #3:  Barber led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (rushing yards + receiving
yards) in 2004 and 2005.  He also finished in the top-5 in yards from scrimmage in 2002
(4th) and 2006 (5th), and he finished in the top-10 in 2000 (8th).

Reason #4:  In 2005, Barber racked up 2,309 yards from scrimmage (1,860 rushing, 530
receiving), becoming the first player in NFL history to finish with more than 1,800 rushing
yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season.   At the time, Barber’s 2,309 yards
from scrimmage were the second-most  in NFL history, trailing only Marshall Faulk's
2,429 yards in 1999.  Furthermore, Barber has four of the top-60 seasons on the NFL's
single season yards from scrimmage list. Only three other players have four seasons
that rank in the top-60: Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Eric Dickerson, and future Hall
of Famer Marshall Faulk.

Reason #5:  Barber led the NFL in all-purpose yards (rushing yards + receiving yards +
return yards) in 2005.  He also finished in the top-5 in all-purpose yards in 2000 (5th)
and 2004 (2nd), and he finished in the top-10 in 2001 (9th), 2002 (6th), and 2006 (7th).
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___________________
Yeah, I just completely made this up. There really aren't many articles out there
discussing Tiki's HOF chances. I mean, he's not even eligible for another two years.  But
all the other information presented here is true. As far as you know.

I did not include punt and kickoff returns when calculating the total number of touches for
each player.  Had I done so, Barber's average would look even better – one fumble every
55.7 touches.

Reason #19:  During the ten-year period from 1997, his rookie year, through his final
season in 2006, Barber:
  1. Led the NFL in yards from scrimmage;
  2. Led the NFL in all-purpose yards;
  3. Had the third-most rushing yards in the NFL; and
  4. Had the second-most receptions and second-most receiving yards of any running
    back in the NFL, trailing only future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.

Reason #21:  Barber did not stick around simply to pad his statistics. In fact, the exact
opposite is true - Barber retired when he was at his absolute peak:
Reason #16:  Barber had four seasons with 1,900 or more yards from scrimmage.  In
the history of the NFL, only one player has had more such seasons - Walter Payton, who
had five.

Reason 17:  Barber finished his career with an average of 101.5 yards from scrimmage
per game, which ranks 5th in NFL history among players who have played at least 150
games.  The four players ahead of Barber are all current or future Hall of Famers: Barry
Sanders (118.9 yards per game), Walter Payton (111.9), Marshall Faulk (108.8), and
Curtis Martin (103.8).
Reason #20: During the seven-year period from 2000, when he became the Giants'
primary ball carrier, through his final season in 2006, Barber:
  1. Led the NFL in rushing yards;
  2. Led the NFL in yards from scrimmage;
  3. Led the NFL in all-purpose yards; and
  4. Led all running backs in receptions and receiving yards.
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Reason #7:  Barber finished his career with 68 touchdowns (55 rushing, 12 receiving, 1
punt return).   His touchdown total compares favorably to several running backs who are
currently in the Hall of Fame, including O.J. Simpson (75 total touchdowns), Earl
Campbell (74), Larry Csonka (68), Gale Sayers (56), John Henry Johnson (55), and
Floyd Little (54).

Reason #8:  The perception that Barber had a severe fumbling problem is inaccurate.  
During his career, Barber fumbled 53 times on 2,803 touches (2,217 rushes, 586
receptions), an average one fumble every 52.9 touches.  Barber's average is roughly in
line with that of Marcus Allen (one fumble every 55.5 touches), John Riggins (54.6), and
Earl Campbell (53.7), and he fumbled less often than NFL luminaries Walter Payton
(one fumble every 50.3 touches), Jim Brown (46.0), OJ Simpson (42.4), Eric Dickerson
(42.0), Tony Dorsett (37.0), and Franco Harris (36.2).
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Reason #6:  At the time of his retirement from the New York Giants, Barber held
numerous team records, including:

  • Longest Touchdown Run: 95 yards, December 31, 2005 vs. Oakland
  • Most Rushing Yards, Game: 234 yards, December 30, 2006 vs. Washington
  • Most Total Yards, Game: 276 (203 rushing yards, 73 receiving yards), December 28,
    2002 vs. Philadelphia
  • Most Receptions, Game: 13, January 2, 2000 at Dallas
  • Most Rushing Attempts, Season: 357, 2005 season
  • Most Rushing Yards, Season: 1,860 yards, 2005 season
  • Most Games with 100 Yards Rushing, Season: 9, 2004 season (Barber had eight
    100-yard games in 2005 and 2006)
  • Most Games with 200 Yards Rushing, Season: 3, 2005 season
  • Most Yards from Scrimmage, Season: 2,390 yards, 2005 season
  • Most Rushing Attempts, Career: 2,217
  • Most Rushing Yards, Career: 10,449 yards (3,552 more than Rodney Hampton)
  • Most Games with 100 Yards Rushing, Career: 38 (twice as many as Giants runner-
    up Joe Morris)
  • Most Receptions, Career: 586
  • Most Yards From Scrimmage (Rushing and Receiving), Career: 15,632
  • Most Total Yards (Rushing, Receiving, and Return Yardage), Career: 17,359
  • Yards Per Carry, Career: 4.7
  • Most Rushing Touchdowns, Career: 55
  • Most 1,000 Yard Seasons: 6
  • Most Yards from Scrimmage Per Game, Career (min: 150 games): 101.5 yards

In addition, Barber led the Giants in rushing every game from the beginning of the 2002
season through the end of the 2006 season, an NFL-record 80 consecutive games.
Barber also finished his career as one of only three players to lead his franchise in both
rushing yards and receptions, joining Walter Payton (Bears) and James Wilder
(Buccaneers).
Reason #9:  Barber had five games with 200+ rushing yards during his career, second-
most in NFL history behind O.J. Simpson, who had six such games.

Reason #10:  Barber finished his career with 10,449 rushing yards, which currently
ranks 22nd on the NFL's all-time rushing list.  Of the 21 players ahead of Barber, 12
have been retired for 5+ years and are therefore eligible for the Hall of Fame - Emmitt
Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Marcus
Allen, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, John Riggins, O.J. Simpson and Ricky Watters.  
All but one of these players (Watters) is in the Hall of Fame.

Reason #11:  Barber finished his career with an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Of the 24
running backs with 10,000 or more rushing yards, only two averaged more yards per
carry than Barber: Hall of Famers Jim Brown (5.2 ypc) and Barry Sanders (5.0 ypc).

Reason #12:  Barber rushed for 1,200 or more yards five times, the same number as
Earl Campbell, Thurman Thomas and Marshall Faulk, and more than Hall of Fame
running backs Tony Dorsett (4), O.J. Simpson (4), John Riggins (2), Jim Taylor (2),
Marcus Allen (1), Franco Harris (1), and Gale Sayers (1).

Reason #13:  Barber rushed for 1,500 or more yards three times.  Only four players in
the history of the NFL have had more 1,500-yard seasons – Barry Sanders, who had five,
and Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, and Edgerrin James, each of whom surpassed
1,500 yards four times.

Reason #14:  Barber has the 5th most receptions of any running back in NFL history.  Of
the four running backs ahead of Barber, only two were their team's primary running back
- Hall of Famer Marcus Allen and future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.  In addition, Barber
had eight seasons with 50 or more receptions.  Only two running backs in the history of
the NFL have had more seasons with 50+ catches.

Reason #15:   Barber ranks 11th on the NFL's all-time yards from scrimmage list.  Of the
ten players ahead of Barber, seven are in the Hall of Fame (Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith,
Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas, and Tony Dorsett), two
are first-ballot Hall of Famers (Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson), and one is
likely to be voted into the Hall of Fame at some point (Curtis Martin).
Reason #18:  In the history of the NFL, only three players have amassed 10,000+
rushing yards, 500+ receptions, and 5,000+ receiving yards – Hall of Famer Marcus
Allen, future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk, and Barber.