Barber continues to cut his ego from equation

"Sean's a good friend," Barber said. "I'm proud of what he's done and where he's gone in his career. Really, he's just the next guy we have to face and, hopefully, try to beat."

That was his first stab at the subject, and if that sounds like it was edited for the benefit of head coach Tom Coughlin, you're getting warm. But Barber knows what Payton means to his career, and his aim was better the second time Payton's name was mentioned.

"Sean was a great influence on my career," he said. "As he's doing in New Orleans he finds ways to utilize his guys' strengths. He did that with me and revolutionized my existence as a football player and turned me into who I am now. Or at least started me down that path into who I am now, and I have a great respect for that."

Teammates have great respect for that, too, whether they admit it or not. Without Barber the Giants would have settled at or near the bottom of the NFC East. When they won the division a year ago, it was only after Barber produced six of his eight 100-yard games in the second half of the season and set a passel of club rushing records.

Plus he did it with panache. What I remember most about last season was his 206-yard performance against Washington, the game immediately after the death of team owner Wellington Mara. When Barber scored the game's last touchdown, he kept the ball and ran it over to the sidelines to present it to Mara's grandson.

It was the right gesture. And trying to downplay the significance of Sunday's farewell party is the right gesture, too -- only this time it won't work. That overflow audience around his locker was the evidence.

"I don't think about it," Barber said of his home finale. "I tend to get extremely focused on what I'm doing and on my job. That's my mentality on Sunday, just like every other Sunday for the last ten years."

Except this isn't any other Sunday. It's Tiki Barber's last curtain call at Giants Stadium, and that makes it extraordinary.

"We need this game as a team," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "But he needs this last win at home. Giants fans deserve to see him with a win and have a great game. It's been great playing with Tiki two years. I'm going to miss him a helluva lot."