Legendary New York Athlete Drops Harsh Truth on Yankees Star Aaron Judge

By almost any measure, Aaron Judge is one of the all-time greats. 

But another all-time great from a different New York team said that Judge will not be considered a truly elite member of the storied Yankees franchise unless he is able to check off one more significant box. 

“For Aaron Judge to be an elite Yankee, he’s got to keep doing what he’s doing, maybe win some more MVPs,” said former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber. “But most importantly, because there are 27 [World Series titles] that preceded him, he has to win a championship. He has to.” 

On the “Evan & Tiki” show, which airs weekdays on WFAN-AM in New York, Barber was debating with co-hosts Evan Roberts and Shaun Morash about who is wearing the “King of New York” crown among the city’s professional athletes. Morash could not fathom that the others were hyping New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson as the current title holder, based on his team’s moderate postseason success in recent seasons.  

Not when Judge is enjoying one of the greatest starts to a season in MLB history. It isn’t fair, Morash stressed, to weigh Judge’s accomplishments against those of players long gone. 

“We’ve seen so many legendary Yankees that have won World Series, so Aaron Judge fights those ghosts,” Morash lamented. “Jalen Brunson doesn’t fight those ghosts.” 

Tiki Barber Said Aaron Judge Must Win World Series to be ‘An Elite Yankee’

GettyNew York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is among MLB’s all-time greats, but Tiki Barber said he must win a World Series to be considered “an elite Yankee.”

Unfortunately, Barber countered, it’s what happens when you play for the Yankees. 

“You’re just judged on something very different,” Barber said. “Jalen Brunson is judged on something very different than Aaron Judge is judged on.” 

Which means that leading the Knicks to series wins in the opening round of the NBA playoffs for three straight seasons boosts Brunson’s standing, while losing in the World Series is seen as a knock against Judge. 

The Knicks aren’t battling that same bar, right? They’re high jumping at a much lower level,” Barber said. “So when you see Jalen Brunson do magical things almost every postseason, it just, it lifts you, it makes you feel like, ‘Hey, we have a chance.’ And so for Yankee fans, they’ve been in the postseason too many times with Aaron Judge feeling like, ‘Eh, well, we have no shot,’ and last year was an exception, but it wasn’t because of Aaron Judge. It was because of Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. That’s what we’re talking about. We’re not talking about, ‘Is Aaron Judge inferior to Jalen Brunson?’” 

Tiki Barber Can Relate to Aaron Judge’s Status Among New York Athletes

GettyTiki Barber holds the New York Giants franchise records for carries and rushing yards, but the team did not win a Super Bowl during his 10-year tenure.

Barber can speak with experience on this topic. He played his entire 10-year NFL career with the New York Giants and holds the franchise records for carries (2,217) and rushing yards (10,449), and he is one of just three running backs in NFL history to surpass 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards. 

But the Giants did not win a Super Bowl during Barber’s tenure with the team, which drops him a few spots on the list of all-time franchise greats, below players that have played for title winners. 

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