Tiki Barber: I’m just like Anne Frank

As if Tiki Barber hadn’t already taken a deep enough plunge from grace, now he’s comparing himself to Anne Frank. Via ESPNNewYork.com:

The former New York Giants running back has been criticized in local media for making the analogy during an interview in this week’s Sports Illustrated. At one point in the article, Barber describes going into hiding with his girlfriend after his well-publicized breakup with his then-pregnant wife. Barber and his girlfriend ended up in the attic of the home of the player’s agent, Mark Lepselter.

“Lep’s Jewish,” Barber told Sports Illustrated. “And it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing.”

Lepselter came to his client’s defense Thursday.

“In a world where nothing surprises me, where things get completely blown out of proportion, this only adds to the list,” Lepselter told ESPNNewYork.com. “All Tiki was saying to Jon was he was shedding light on going back to that time when he was literally trapped, so to speak, in my attic for a week. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Let me remind all those who want to make this more than it is: Tiki was a guest of [president] Shimon Peres in Israel five years ago.”

Yeah, and I bet some of Tiki’s best friends—and business partners—are Jewish.

Maybe the comment is being “blown out of proportion”—what in sports news isn’t?—but for a guy who left football because he thought he’d make an awesome broadcaster, Tiki really needs to watch his words.