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To most, this would sound like a player making a declaration that he is going to be better. He refuses to be a backup player because he's going to work hard and show the coaches that he has no business ever being off the field.Well, Osi Umenyiora apparently meant it in a different way. He means that he deserves to be a starter because he's Osi Umenyiora.
"I'm not going to be a backup player, I can promise you that," Umenyiora said on WFAN Wednesday. "I'll stop playing football before I do that ever again. . . So for me it's not something that I'm going to do. If I'm asked to come back there and do that then I'll just stop playing football."
I'm not exactly sure if "quit" means that he will sit out the season, or if he means he'll retire from football altogether. Or maybe he just means that he's going to sit in the corner of the field with his arms crossed, facing away from everyone, with his meanest scowl.
"I felt like I had worn out my welcome, because for certain people, no matter what happens, they'll never take them out of the lineup, you understand what I mean?"
Osi may just have to face the fact that he's not the same player since tearing up his knee. He still feels like he has the speed and agility he had before the injury, but that's simply not the case.
Even when he did play it was obvious that he was slowing down and is no longer the scary off-the-edge presence that he was just a few years ago.
To put it simply: Winston Justice is no longer afraid of facing Umenyiora, and the guy nearly ended his career before it began.
