Tiki Barber's Dream Of TV Omnipresence Deferred

Tiki was once hailed by NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker as a "one of those rare personalities who appeals to virtually every audience imaginable." Every audience except a football audience, that is. According to the New York Daily News, Barber's porcelain presence and cocky attitude hasn't impressed NBC Sports execs who have decided to add a couple more talking heads to the "Football Night In America" mix (Rodney Harrison, Tony Dungy), bringing the total to 78 analysts for the upcoming 2009 season. This will mean even less time for Tiki, who has also seen his smiling crotch-painting and omelet-making appearances on the Today Show dwindle in recent months. One anonymous NBC exec tells the Daily News that Tiki "made some improvement last season, but he still came over as somewhat buttoned-down and elite, as opposed to (Jerome) Bettis, who was an everyman kind of guy." So the easiest way for Tiki to earn more airtime this season? Get fatter and less ...