Former NFL star Tiki Barber and his 23 year-old mistress Traci Lynn Johnson (more pictures here) apparently met more than two years ago and their torrid romance started around that time. Traci’s father bragged to friends his daughter was Tiki’s babysitter and that he had helped her get an internship on the “Today Show”.

“I heard from Ernie that Traci baby-sat for Tiki, and he put in a word for her at the ‘Today’ show,” said the neighbor, who lived next to the Johnson family in upstate Pine Bush. “I said, ‘Wow!’ “

The truth is Traci and Tiki had a deeper connection that would later embarrass her proud parents. Traci’s senior project was about Tiki’s line of children’s books and that is why he was invited to speak about life after retirement at Mount St. Mary College back in 2008.

Traci and Tiki’s relationship quickly developed into something else and multiple sources claimed that he wasn’t shy about lavishing her with expensive gifts – from roses to jerseys and even a small pooch.

“On her 21st birthday, he sent her 21 dozen roses to her dorm. He also gave her a diamond and sapphire bracelet,” the source said. “At this point, she had a boyfriend, and told him that she and Tiki were ‘just friends,’ but nobody bought it.

“He gave her and her friends [Giants] jerseys for them to dress up in on Halloween . . . He would shower her with designer handbags and expensive clothes.”

The source said “he came to the school, and she introduced him to her friends. At first, we thought he was a nice, sweet guy. Really warm and friendly. But once we realized what was going on, we were disgusted. We never expected him to be so disrespectful to his wife.

“One night, he sneaked into her dorm and stayed over the night,” the source said. “The next day, Traci didn’t want to let him out of her room to use the bathroom because she was worried someone would see him and catch them. Traci said that she didn’t expect him to leave his wife, and that [Ginny] was so pretty.”

Another former college classmate of Johnson said, “She was not shy about their relationship. She also used to tote around the little white dog that he bought for her.”

Other sources and even Tiki’s business partner said this never happened. Tiki did not send her gifts, she wasn’t his babysitter and he never slept on her dorm. However, Traci’s boss, a Today show producer, also noticed she had an “inappropriate” relationship with the NBC sportscaster.

Traci’s boss told her, ‘What do you think you’re doing? You’re just an intern. I don’t want you going out to lunch with him in public.’ Traci was annoyed, but she realized she’d have to be more secretive if she wanted to see him.”

Tiki and Traci have been spotted together in public multiple times. Another source portrayed Traci as a wild party girl and said she was taking advantage of her relationship with Tiki.

A source in New York’s nightlife scene said, “Tiki has always been a family man, but in the last nine months he’s been showing up around town with Traci. She’s a wild party girl, and is often out all night with all her girlfriends. When they go out for dinners he takes care of it. And she tells everyone he pays her rent. He seems pretty hooked by Traci. She knows it, and is making the most of it.”

Traci recently wrote on her Facebook page that Tiki was an amazing BF (=boyfriend) and the two went to the Winter Olympics together, where he introduced her as his “assistant”. At the time they started going public, Tiki was already separated from his wife of 11 years, Ginny Cha, who is pregnant with twins.