FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Even Michael Strahan, the master of this sort of controversy, said what Osi Umenyiora has been blathering on about is “stupid stuff,” and no one should pay any heed to Umenyiora’s threat that he will retire if the Giants don’t return him to what he believes is his rightful place in the starting lineup.
“What do I think he wants? He wants to play, he wants to start,” Strahan told The Post yesterday after making appearances promoting Subway sandwiches on Radio Row at the Super Bowl Media Center. “He’s frustrated. Sometimes you ask a guy a question, he says what’s on his mind. But they got a better shot of me coming back and me having my best year ever than of Osi quitting football.”
Strahan and Umenyiora are fast friends who once played the same defensive end position and shared an agent, Tony Agnone. During his 15 seasons with the Giants, Strahan certainly created his share of headlines, at times irking the front office and management by going public with his demands for more money and larger contracts. He even played the retirement card as he held out of training camp before his final year.
“I [talked to] him the other day and said, ‘Stop saying stupid stuff. . . . You got a better chance of me coming back than you quitting,’ ” Strahan said. “That ain’t happening. He ain’t quitting nothing.
“I said the same mess, ‘I ain’t coming back.’ He’ll be there. He’s not going anywhere. He’s too good of a player to let go. Whenever you have these knee injuries you never really come back and have that season you had before the next season. It’s always the season after.
“He’ll come back next year 100 percent, the knee will feel good, he’ll be fine. He’s just frustrated. I said ‘Stop saying stupid stuff. I was the only one allowed to say stupid stuff.’ “