Local star Umenyiora in big game

By OANow Staff

Published: February 2, 2008

Auburn High assistant football coach Todd Freeman laughs when he recalls a meeting back in 1997.

It was a meeting that was far from unusual — a purely motivational, one-on-one meeting to check the dedication of a particular 16-year old athlete.

That athlete was Osi Umenyiora.

And now, that fresh-faced, new-to-the-game-of-football kid is a hardened NFL veteran preparing to play in his first Super Bowl with the New York Giants tonight against the New England Patriots.

“I still remember a point in his senior year here where we had a meeting with Osi and (former head coach) Bill McCall,” recalled Freeman. “Coach McCall said to Osi he needed to know if he was committed enough to do the things he needed to do to become better.

“Osi said, ‘Yes,’”

And the rest is history.

Osi went on to have a good season with Auburn, but stayed under the recruiting radar.

However, Troy University coach Larry Blakney liked what he saw of Umenyiora enough to sign him.

Umenyiora developed into a beast of a defender and was eventually picked by the Giants in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft.

Now, Umenyiora is a superstar.

He’ll head to his second Pro Bowl following the Super Bowl, his house has been featured on MTV’s “Cribs” — his celebrity status has grown to where he’s now being linked romantically with Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks.

And some of the thanks for Umenyiora’s football success can go directly to Freeman and the other coaches at Auburn High at the time.

Freeman in particular.

After all, Umenyiora, who was born in London and moved to Nigeria before coming to Auburn,  had never played football in his life until he was a junior at AHS.

At the time Freeman was the defensive line coach which meant he was, technically, Umenyiora’s very first football coach.

“At least in organized football,” Freeman said on being the first to guide Umenyiora. “He didn’t know how to get into a defensive lineman’s stance and didn’t know
technique.

“He knew nothing about the game.”

But Freeman also says most of the credit goes to the coaches at Troy, where Umenyiora honed his skills.

“I wish I could take the credit, but I really can’t,” Freeman said. “We do, though, have a good relationship. I was proud the day he signed with Troy and proud the day the Giants signed him.

“He called me after he got drafted and all he could say was, ‘Can you believe it?’”

Umenyiora had one of his best seasons in 2007, tallying 52 total tackles and a team-high 13 sacks.

Umenyiora, though, isn’t the only player in today’s Super Bowl with local connections.

Two of Umenyiora’s Giants teammates played collegiately at Auburn.

Reggie Torbor is in his fourth season as one of the Giants’ linebackers.

Running back Brandon Jacobs played at Auburn in 2003 before transferring to Southern Illinois.

Lining up on the other side of the ball from the Giants will be another Auburn University product.

Heath Evans has seen significant playing time as the Patriots’ starting fullback.

Evans has scored three touchdowns on the year during New England’s undefeated run.

| 737-2568