We’re hearing rumors that former Giants running back Tiki Barber, who signed a long-term deal with NBC last year, is no longer part of the Today show, the network’s long-running morning program.

The news initially came to us in the form of a tip from a reader who has supplied other accurate NBC-related tidbits in the past.  We then cast a wide net to try to get more information.  In the process, we’ve learned that Barber has been on vacation for several weeks in Costa Rica, and we’ve concluded that it’s possible his absence from the country has prompted an erroneous conclusion that he’s out of the picture.  Moreover, Barber’s name still appears on the program’s official web page.

But we’re now picking up strong indications that the rumor could indeed be true.

We’re not officially reporting yet that Tiki is off the show, and the posting of this rumor could be enough of a spark to get someone else in the media (”real” or otherwise) to get to the bottom of it.  For now, though, there’s enough smoke to prompt us to point in its general direction.  Whether there’s fire remains to be seen.

And none of this means that Barber is out at NBC.  He’ll presumably still be a part of the network’s NFL coverage.  But it’s possible that his stated desire to cross over from sports into news has taken a serious hit, unless he leaves NBC and joins the news operation at another network.