Exclusive interview with the London-born NFL star who has beaten the quarterback TWICE
OSI UMENYIORA knows what it takes to stop Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.
After all, he did it twice as a defensive end with the New York Giants, inflicting Brady’s only defeats in his six trips to the NFL’s grand finale.
And on both occasions, the London boy was a key part of a defensive masterplan that left the New England Patriots quarterback smothered and his Super Bowl dream in tatters.
Umenyiora is now a regular face on the BBC’s NFL Show and is spearheading the search for talented European athletes who want to make it in the NFL as well as helping to push the idea of London being awarded an NFL team.
But tonight he will watch with interest to see if the Falcons can work out how to shut down Brady as effectively as Umenyiora and the Giants did at Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, when they put Brady’s credentials to one side and concentrated on their own strengths. Umenyiora said: “You’ve got to pressure the quarterback. They have a good offensive line and Brady knows where the pressure is coming from.
“But we had no respect for any quarterback. We had the best defensive line, probably in history, and we felt like we were going to get after him – and we did.
“He wasn’t able to adjust. You can’t adjust to a relentless pass rush like we had then, no matter who you are.
“Atlanta have Vic Beasley and they have Dwight Freeney, and those guys can definitely rush the passer. If it gets into a situation where the Falcons are able to get ahead, then it’s going to be big trouble for New England.”
That trouble will come because being behind would force Brady to pass more, opening up the chance for Beasley, Freeney and the rest of the Falcons’ pass rushers to influence the outcome.
And the Patriots could well find themselves behind because Atlanta have scored more points than any team in the NFL this season, with quarterback Matt Ryan directing an explosive offensive unit.
Brady has been the linchpin of the Patriots machine for 17 years, a career that sees him make a record seventh appearance in the Super Bowl tonight.
But there is one man who has been with him throughout that time and who Umenyiora says is the real key to everything the Patriots do and have achieved since he and Brady arrived in 2000.
Head coach Bill Belichick had won the Super Bowl twice before as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants but had suffered through a miserable time as head coach of the Cleveland Browns before being fired. Umenyiora reckons hiring Belichick was the smartest thing the Patriots have ever done. He said: “The one thing Bill Belichick has done is that he knows every facet of the game. “He coached of fence, he coached defence, he coached special teams. He understands everything. He is just a genius, so smart, better at things than other people, knows the game inside out and he prepares his team that way. “As a player you can only do so much against New England because you’re not only playing against the players, you’re playing against the coach and that’s what makes it so much different than going up against other teams.”
To win: Patriots 21/20 Falcons 4/5 First touchdown Julio Jones 8/1 LeGarrette Blount 8/1 Lady Gaga’s first song Bad Romance 5/4 Who will MVP thank first? Team-mates 11/8... God 11/4...