This sure couldn’t have been what Osi Umenyiora had in mind when he bolted New York for Atlanta.
He suffered through a disastrous record last year, has a losing record so far this season, and had to suffer through his old team beating his new one 30-20 on Sunday.
Umenyiora — who had 75 sacks and two Super Bowl rings in a decade with the Giants — took down Eli Manning for a 7-yard loss with 5:18 in the second quarter, forcing Big Blue to settle for a field goal and drawing jeers from a MetLife Stadium crowd from which he once got cheers.
“They’re supposed to do that: I’m on the opposing team. I’m sacking their quarterback. They’re supposed to boo me. I appreciated it,’’ said Umenyiora, paid a pregame video tribute by his former squad.
“It was emotional,” Mathias Kiwanuka said. “I watched the whole tribute to him before the game, I forgot I was supposed to be stretching. He was a guy who gave his heart and soul to this organization. He worked, he brought us young guys at the time along, showed us what it meant to be a professional and carried himself in a way you always believed he’d perform. You always believe he cared.’’
That video tribute, and the lone sack that followed, were about the only positives Umenyiora got Sunday. Beating buddy Will Beatty for his first sack of a disappointing season couldn’t take the sting off having to watch his Falcons choke away a 10-point third-quarter lead.
“He didn’t say anything,” Manning said of the sack. “He’s one of my good friends and we had a great run together. I have great respect for him. He plays the game the right way.”
“[It means] nothing. I’d much rather we got the win,” Umenyiora said. “That’s what we came out here for and we weren’t able to get it done. I was just trying to help the team win, that’s all. Anything I can do to help the team win, I’m going to do, because they deserve it. It’s a good team, good coaches, good owner — they deserve better than what we’re doing right now.’’
What the Falcons are doing is falling to 2-3, and Umenyiora is hardly getting a chance to help. Despite his team-high 7 ½ sacks last year, his first in Atlanta, the Falcons went just 4-12. Personally, this year has been even worse for him.
Umenyiora has been relegated to a role as a situational pass-rusher in their base 3-4 or as an end in the nickel, slimming down to 255 pounds. He’s rated just the 43rd 3-4 outside linebacker by Pro Football Focus, and logged just 100 snaps through the first four games, including just 20 last weekend.
“I always feel like I can help the team out more, but whatever they ask me to do is what I’m going to go out and do,’’ Umenyiora said. “I can’t make no comments on that. Whatever this team asks me to do I’m going to do. It doesn’t matter if I’m happy or not — whatever they ask me to do I’m going to go out and do.
“I’m not a different player at all, man. Sometimes things happen, sometimes they don’t. I’m a little bit more mature, that’s all I can say.’’
