Super Bowl Champ Osi Umenyiora Talks NFL International Games & More with Rich

Osi Umenyiora returned to the Rich Eisen Show for an in-studio session that ran from international football to NFL Africa to two of the best Michael Strahan stories ever told on the air, then closed with the most Tom Coughlin moment Rich has ever personally witnessed.

Start with the international piece. Osi lives in London now. He has called dozens of UK NFL broadcasts. His read on why the league keeps exporting regular-season games to international markets is rooted in business and audience respect.

"You don't really understand the impact it has in all these different places and all these different countries," Osi said. "If you're the NFL, you have to give them the best product you have, and that is an actual game."

The international audience, in Osi's read, has matured. Allianz Arena in Munich now fills with fans in team-specific jerseys when teams they support are not even playing. The UK fans are sophisticated, following actual matchups, not just the spectacle.

The bigger story Osi spent the most time on was NFL Africa, the program he runs. The pipeline is real and producing real NFL players. Chig Okonkwo plays meaningful snaps for the Baltimore Ravens. Chu Godrick is on the Chiefs roster. Both came through the NFL Africa scouting program.

The newest graduate is the one Rich was most curious about. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Uchenna Bernard, a player Daniel Jeremiah compared to Myles Garrett during NFL Network's draft coverage. Bernard has never played a single down of organized football.

"It's a foreign concept to people who don't have the context," Osi said. The Africa scouting program identifies elite athletes. Those who qualify go to the NFL Africa camp. Selected players move to the IPP program in Florida for training. By the time they get to a team, they have learned the basic structure of the game. The next step, Osi said with a smile, is teaching Bernard what a down is.

Osi confessed mild distress that Bernard ended up with Philadelphia, the rival who once let him sack Donovan McNabb six times in a single game. He gave the Eagles credit anyway. They are the same team that drafted Jordan Mailata from the same program, and Mailata is now an All-Pro Super Bowl champion. Philadelphia knows how to develop these players.

The Strahan stories were the centerpiece of the appearance. Two of them landed at career levels.

The first happened in 2007, walking to a Giants practice. Osi was walking next to Justin Tuck, who was still in his second year. Michael Strahan was a few feet ahead. Tuck, out of nowhere, said to Osi, "I can't wait to kick this guy out of the league." Strahan turned around. Tuck repeated it directly to his face.

"I couldn't believe that Tuck had the thought process to actually vocalize that," Osi said. "I just died laughing."

Strahan, Osi confirmed, also laughed it off and retired that season.

The second story involved the rookie sandwich tradition. Strahan habitually arrived later than the rest of the locker room. Tuck, as the rookie that year, was tasked with bringing in Strahan's sandwich each day. One day, veteran Bob Whitfield took Strahan's sandwich, replaced it with a frozen piece of ham between two pieces of bread, and put the fake sandwich back on Strahan's desk.

"Strahan comes in late and he sees this and he is irate," Osi said. "Big Bob comes out and is like, I took your sandwich, Strahan. What do you want to do? You want to thump?"

Strahan's answer, in Osi's recounting, was the prudent one.

"No."

Beyond the comedy, Osi credited Strahan with making him a player. Strahan taught him film study. Strahan taught him how to take care of his body. Strahan showed him what it looked like to be the best every day. Osi said the Hall of Famer is the single largest reason Osi became a successful NFL player.

The 2007 Super Bowl story, the clip moment editors pulled from this interview, was the same one Osi told on the show yesterday. Walking off the field after the Patriots beat the Giants in Week 17 to finish 16-0, Osi turned to Tuck and said if they played again, the Giants would win. Steve Spagnuolo had purposely held back his Super Bowl game plan. Tom Coughlin had ordered them to play to win despite the seed being locked. The actual rematch in Glendale proved Osi right.

Osi never saw the helmet catch live. He put his head down when Eli was being grabbed. He thought the season was over.

The 6-sack game against McNabb, still the Giants franchise record, was, in Osi's read, just luck. He got to the quarterback seven times. Six of them were sacks. He has had bigger pressure games with zero sacks. Tom Coughlin said nothing to him after.

The closer was Rich's story.

At a Paul Tagliabue-era owners meeting held in Hawaii, Rich had a morning massage scheduled. He sat in the spa waiting room in a terry cloth robe. Tom Coughlin walked in, also in a terry cloth robe and slippers.

The two stared at each other.

It was 9:55. Coughlin's appointment was at 10. He looked up at the clock, looked at Rich, and went straight to the front desk.

"Where the heck is my masseuse?" Coughlin said.

The masseuse, Rich noted, was not five minutes early.

Osi's rings, in case anyone is wondering, are in a safe in London. He took the advice Deion Sanders once gave him.

"You never see an Olympic gold medalist walking around with their gold medal."