University of Miami mascot on Tiki Barber’s lawn after loss
Tiki Barber recently lost a bet with a friend — and wound up with an unwanted guest.
Spies told Page Six that a giant inflatable, light-up mascot of the University of Miami’s “Sebastian the Ibis” had taken up residence on Barber’s New Jersey front lawn.
Turns out Barber lost a bet with his close friend and PR pro Ron Berkowitz. If Berkowitz’s University of Miami alma mater beat Barber’s beloved Virginia, Barber would have to display Sebastian for all to see.
After Miami’s win, Berkowitz even posted a video of the mascot to Twitter, saying, “Sebastian is at your house… we got you this time!” He also playfully taunted Tiki’s fellow Virginia alum twin brother, Ronde Barber.
Apparently if Virginia had won the recent college football game, Berkowitz would’ve had to fly a University of Virginia school flag at his home nearby, we hear.
Barber told Page Six when we asked him if the mascot was still up since the Virginia defeat last month, “Sebastian is deflated! I think my neighbor BB-gunned him.”
He’d been broadcasting a Penn State game when the offending Miami mascot went up at his home.
At Virginia, Barber rushed for over 1,300 yards during his senior year, and was named ACC Player of the Year. He is also in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. The offensive star was drafted by the Giants in 1997, and played his entire career with the team.
Barber just ran the New York City Marathon as one of several celebs in the race this month, along with Ashton Kutcher, “Catfish” host Nev Schulman, T.J. Holmes of “Good Morning America,” and more.
The former football great-turned-sportscaster also recently signed on as the face of Collars & Co.’s new line of outerwear. The clothing company’s founder nabbed an investment from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones for $1 million on “Shark Tank.”
