Tiki Barber's Mistress Was His Kids' Babysitter

Turns out that ex-NFL player Tiki Barber is in hot water for spending a little too much "quality time" with his new mistress, Traci Lynn Johnson. Reports are that Barber is planning to leave his wife, Ginny, after 11 years of marriage. If that isn't enough to put Barber in the doghouse, his wife is also pregnant with twins.

Barber's mistress allegedly told her father that she was spending a great deal of time with Barber, because she was babysitting his sons, who are now 7 and 6 years old. She was an intern at NBC, and Barber is a correspondent there.

"This decision was a painful one," Barber said in a statement, "but we are moving forward amicably and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known."

This divorce scandal has put a damper on the Tiki Barber brand. Barber, whose brother, Ronde, was also a very good NFL player, has always carried a squeaky-clean, good boy image that seems to have been tainted. It will be interesting to see how his career with the 'Today' show progresses now that the situation has come to light.

What's also interesting is that whenever a celebrity leaves his wife, we tend to conclude that the celebrity was the bad apple in the relationship. I am sure that most of those speculating on the decisions of Tiki Barber have no idea about what was going on in his marriage and can't presume that he is somehow abandoning an innocent victim. This is not to say that his wife deserved any of this, but the truth is that none of us really knows what happened.

Well, at least with his new mistress, Tiki won't have to worry about hiring a babysitter.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, 'Black American Money.' To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.