Retired New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora isn’t a fan of modern day America. He’s not a fan of the modern day Giants, either.
In fact, Umenyiora sees the two in much the same light.
“I look at the Giants I think the same way I look at America,” Umenyiora told the New York Post. “I think I look at the Giants with a lot of fond memories, but then I’m like what the hell happened? It’s some absolute craziness going on there right now.
“To think that in the past eight seasons, they have had one winning record, I think. It just doesn’t make any sense for a team with that kind of pride and with that kind of history. And with what we had done the eight years prior to that. It’s really unfortunate, man. But in some form or fashion they have almost lost their way. They have lost their identity. Like, what is the New York Giants’ identity right now? I couldn’t even tell you what it is.”
Umenyiora laments the fact that these Giants aren’t as physical and hard-nosed as the teams he played on, which is somewhat ironic given that’s really the only thing this version of the Giants has going for them.
“We were hard-nosed, we were a physical team, we would grind it out and then defensively we would bludgeon you,” said Umenyiora. “Offensively, that offensive line, they were a strong, powerful unit. And they were creating holes. We were running the ball. Eli Manning was an outstanding quarterback. We had a great kicker (Tynes).
“This was the Giants’ identity. And now it’s like I couldn’t even tell you what it is. I don’t know what they are as a football team and how that happened, how that transpired… I will never really understand. What do we need to do to get back to where we were? Now that’s a story all in itself.”
It’s easy to point fingers and throw stones, but it was the failures of the previous regime, which Umenyiora reflects on positively, that started the Giants’ downfall in the first place.
