Tiki Barber reveals he's expecting baby with new wife

Tiki Barber has revealed he and the 23-year-old former NBC intern he left his pregnant ex-wife for three years ago are expecting their first child together.

The former New York Giants running back —who married one-time mistress Traci Johnson in a civil ceremony in a New York City Hall ceremony in July, eight days after his divorce to his wife of 11 years, Ginny, became final — boasted that he will be dad one more time.

Speaking on the women's gab-fest "Bethenny," the 37-year-old Barber said that his fifth child, and Johnson's first, was due in December before rubbing his young bride's belly as the live audience applauded. The episode will air this coming Tuesday.

The former Giants' lightning bolt running back turned lightning rod pariah had to endure the wrath of many fans after leaving his first wife in 2010, even though she was eight months pregnant with twin girls, after beginning an affair with Johnson.

At the time of the affair, Barber was working for NBC's "Today" show with ambitions to be a serious journalist, but lost his job soon afterwards when his contract wasn't renewed. His poor interviewing skills and dull camera presence didn't help his cause.

The affair with the former NBC intern and Maxim pinup girl did not help endear him to football viewers either, as public opinion against Barber had already been lukewarm.

Before he became gossip fodder, Barber infuriated Giants fans when he questioned the techniques of head coach Tom Coughlin and the leadership skills of the Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, both of whom since gone onto to win two Superbowl championships with the Giants — each without Barber in the picture.

Giants fans lustily booed the former NFL star when Barber was inducted into the Giants' Ring of Honor in October 2010.

Before his secret affair with Johnson became public, Barber was thought of as a committed family man, already the father of two sons and the expectant father of twin daughters.

And last year he insulted New York's Jewish community by comparing the clandestine affair with Johnson conducted inside a friend's attic as akin to the harrowing tale of Anne Frank.

Tiki Barber: Eli is better than big brother Peyton

It sounds like the feud between Tiki Barber and Eli Manning has taken an about face and now the former Giants running back is singing the praises of Eli — going as far as to call him a better quarterback than his brother Peyton.

Barber, who co-hosts the Morning Show with Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobsen on the CBS Sports Radio Network, said on Wednesday's show that he thinks Eli is better than Peyton.

"The expectation was that he was never going to be Peyton. I remember having these conversations with people who watched Eli in college, saying, 'He's good, but he's never going to be Peyton, he's not Peyton.' Guess what? I think he's better than Peyton," Barber said. "Because of clutch. What matters in sports? It's winning and losing. You get to the stage and what do you do? Eli's gotten there and he's won."

For the record, Eli's career postseason record is while big brother's is 9-11.

Barber, who played with —and criticized — Eli for three seasons in New York, didn't stop there. He also said Eli could be in the conversation for top-five quarterback of all time if he has a couple more successful seasons.

"For Eli to crack the top five of all time, he's got to have a 2011 [type] season a couple more times and win another Super Bowl and be Super Bowl MVP, and then I think he's in the discussion for the top five [quarterbacks] of all time," Barber said.

It's quite a turn for the Giants' pariah. Barber publicly questioned Manning's leadership abilities back in 2007 — after Barber retired. When Eli responded, the fight was on. 

Barber was quoted as saying that when Eli tried to give motivational pre-game speeches, he sounded "comical." When Manning heard the comments from Barber, he replied that maybe Barber should take a look at himself first, because Barber's pending retirement had served as a distraction all season long.

Manning went on to win the first of his two Super Bowls that season while Barber watched from his couch.

Since then, Manning has gone on to become one of the most-respected elite quarterbacks in the NFL while Tiki has pretty much faded from view and favor with Giants fans.

In 2011, Manning threw 29 touchdown passes on the way to leading the Giants to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots, the second Super Bowl win of Eli's career. Eli's 4,933 passing yards in 2011 is the eighth-highest single-season total in NFL history and is 233 yards more than Peyton's best single-season performance. Something even Barber has to acknowledge.

"As much as you want to try and diminish what he's done, you can't," Barber said of Manning. "Every stat and conversation point supports what he's done."

Manning Bowl III is set for Sept. 15 when they meet at MetLife Stadium and Peyton goes for the sweep.

And, just maybe, there will be a Giants-Broncos matchup in Super Bowl XLVIII in the same place to settle the argument once and for all.