So Osi, the New England Patriots are taking on the Atlanta Falcons in this year’s Super Bowl. Are you looking forward to it? It should be a great Super Bowl. I don’t think we could have got a better match-up. We have an outstanding offence with the Atlanta Falcons, who are playing against a really good defence. Also, the New England Patriots are coached by Bill Belichick, who’s the best coach in the history of the game, so it should be interesting and I can’t wait to watch it.
As a former Falcon, are you surprised they made it through? They’ve never won the Super Bowl before. Not surprised. Atlanta’s always been a good football team as long as Matt Ryan’s been their quarterback. In the two years I was there we weren’t quite as successful, but we always knew that this was a talented guy, a talented team, they have a lot of good players and a really good general manager, so I’m really happy for them.
You won Super Bowl XLII and XLVI with the New York Giants. How difficult is it to avoid getting distracted in the build-up to such massive occasions? You’ve got to try to keep everything as normal as possible. The coaches will try to do that, but it’s difficult because it’s the Super Bowl. It’s tough, but the teams that tend to be most successful are the ones who try to keep everything as normal as possible.
You’re one of four British-born players to have won the Super Bowl, but you left London for Nigeria when you were seven. What are your memories of your home city? I remember winning lots of gold stars at school. Do they still have those?
Probably not, Small Talk never got any. I also remember eating fish and chips and I particularly remember it raining all the time, which hasn’t changed much in the intervening years. Outside of that I don’t really remember too much.
You didn’t play American football until you left Nigeria for Alabama as a teenager. Can you remember your first practice? I’d never even heard of American football until I got to the States. I didn’t know what it was until I was 14. I think sometimes when things are meant for you, they’re just meant for you. I think being a football player was what I was meant to do even though I didn’t know that until I got there.
How long did it take to discover you were very good at it? I think it was midway through my second year of playing, my coaches decided: ‘OK, this guy might be able to do something’. But even then, I wasn’t really a good player until I went to college. Before that, nobody knew who I was or that I was ever going to amount to anything.
As a former defensive end, can you tell us just how satisfactory it is to sack an opposition quarterback? There’s really nothing like it. The quarterback position gets all the glory and rightfully so, but whenever you’re able to get to him and eliminate him or get into his head and throw him off rhythm it’s a wonderful feeling.
You were on the winning team in Super Bowl XLII, which is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, one of the greatest games in Super Bowl history and featured one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history, where several failed sack attempts on Eli Manning were followed by David Tyree’s famous one-handed “helmet catch”. Were you as gobsmacked by that as everyone else watching? I didn’t see it, to be honest with you.
Ha-ha! You’re kidding. No, I’m serious. When they grabbed Eli, I put my head down in disappointment because that would have been the end of the game and then all of a sudden I heard everyone going crazy and I looked up and saw that Tyree somehow had the ball. I didn’t see the catch until the actual replays and that’s when I understood the significance and how great of a play that was.
Do you wear your Super Bowl rings? Nah, they’re in a safe. I don’t wear them around. I remember Deion Sanders, the former football player, saying you don’t see Olympic athletes walking around with their gold medals on, so why would you wear your rings? I’ve never been one to do that unless I’m specifically asked to for some special occasion.
What’s the last movie you saw? The last movie I saw was Arrival, probably one of the best I’ve seen.
And the last book you read? The last book I read was The Art of War.
By Sun Tzu? Yeah.
Did you learn any valuable life lessons? A lot of lessons, man. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
That’s all well and good, but what’s your favourite TV show? I’d have to say House of Cards.
Who’s the most famous person on your phone’s contacts list? Maybe Michael Strahan ... do you know who he is?
Never heard of him. [Laughs] Well look him up on Google, he’s pretty famous.
Cheese or chocolate? Chocolate.
What scares you? The thought of anything happening to my family members really scares me.
Who would play you in the movie of your life story? It would have to be Will Smith.
Finally Osi, you’re married to Leila, a former Miss Universe. How did you swing that and have you any advice for Small Talk readers who might also like to marry a former or current Miss Universe? Well you know, I just have a lot of confidence man. I was in New York at the time, she was in New York at the time ... I was a football player, we met and got talking and hit it off. She’s just a woman and I’m just a man and I approached it that way.
Thanks for the advice, Osi. Enjoy the Super Bowl. I will, man. I’m really looking forward to it.
Super Bowl LI, the climax of the NFL season, is live from Houston this Sunday at 11.30pm on BBC One, with a preview on The NFL Show this Saturday on BBC One after Match of the Day.
