Osi Umenyiora

GIANTS DEFENSIVE END

On his post--Super Bowl celebration
I wish I had a good story about going out afterward, but I knew it would be mayhem out there, so I just chilled in my room. I stayed with my brother [Ejimofor] and a friend and watched the highlights over and over. I couldn't get enough of those highlights.

On girlfriend, and SI swimsuit model, Selita Ebanks
She came out to the Super Bowl, to do an event for Victoria's Secret, so she was at the game. I'll have to try to come up with something good for Valentine's Day. I haven't celebrated it in so long.

On going straight from Arizona to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, thus missing the Giants' victory parade
I decided early on that I would do it that way, win or lose the Super Bowl. I hate to fly, and if I had flown all the way back to New York and then to Hawaii, it would have been almost 20 hours on the plane. Or else I wouldn't have made it to Hawaii, and I felt I should be there to represent the Giants.

On watching the parade
It was on at about 5:00 a.m. here, but I saw it live. I texted the guys during the parade—[teammates] Justin Tuck, Barry Cofield, Michael Strahan. They told me it was crazy. Two million people. That's madness.

On mixing with Patriots players at the Pro Bowl
We didn't really talk about the game. I talked to Asante Samuel, and he said congratulations. They can't really hate on the performance we put on. They played pretty well. We just played better.

On playing the Dolphins last October in London, where he was born and lived for seven years before moving to Nigeria
The best part was that my mother [Chinelo] came from Nigeria. It was the first time that she had ever seen me play in person.

On the meaning of his full first name, Ositadinma, in the Igbo language
From today, things will be good.

"I was surprised to be the only Giant to go to the Pro Bowl. We have the greatest line in the league."

PHOTO

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BIELMANN