The NFL's Tiki Barber is joining NBC as correspondent for the Today show and other NBC Sports football programming, the network is expected to officially announce Tuesday.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation in the press about a possible bidding war for Barber between ESPN, NBC, Fox News and other players. Barber, the all-time leading rusher for the Giants, retired from football at 31.
NBC plans to announce the news at a press conference Tuesday in New York with Jeff Zucker, president and CEO, NBC Universal; Dick Ebersol, chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics; and Steve Capus, president, NBC News.
Barber, who had spent 10 years in the NFL, was due to earn north of $4 million under a non-guaranteed contract with the Giants that ran through 2008, according to several sources.
On the heels of NBC's announcement, CBS said its sports announcer James Brown will co-anchor the Saturday Early Show for four weeks. Brown will join Tracy Smith on Feb. 17 and 24, as well as April 7 and 14.
