Justin Tuck

GIANTS DEFENSIVE END

On facing the Packers in the NFC Championship Game this week
[Green Bay] running back Ryan Grant and I played together at Notre Dame, and he lived with me for two years when he was on the Giants. We're very close, but boy, would I love to hit him again. I'm going to treat him like he was my little brother.

On his hometown of Kellyton, Ala. (pop. 217)
It's also called Tuckville because there are about 10 houses in a row of Tucks. My great-great-granddaddy, Sam Tuck, was a sharecropper, and when he got a piece of land, he built it up. Nobody ever really left. In high school I had 16 cousins in my graduating class.

On another cousin, Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas
He grew up about five minutes away, and I used to clown with him because I had two state basketball championships, one more than he did. Then he got a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens, which ended that discussion.

On his five sisters
The two just older than me are twins. They used to double-team me, put a licking on me. One time they tied me down, shaved my head bald and rolled me down a hill. No joke.

On rotating with Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan at end
We all celebrate when one of us makes a play, but if Strahan makes a play, Osi and I look at each other and say, "Uh-oh, now we'll hear about this all week." The second the game is over, I know how many tackles and sacks each of us had. Maybe I am a little jealous.

On his favorite of his 10 sacks in 2007
Brett Favre [in Week 2]. I was like, Wow! I just sacked one of the greatest players. He just smiled at me, went back to the huddle and proceeded to whup us.

PHOTO

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL J. LEBRECHT II/1DEUCE3 PHOTOGRAPHY