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[SIZE=+2]New leaders emerging for Giants
[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Manning, Umenyiora have begun to take over as leaders of Giants
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]10:26 PM CDT on Friday, September 7, 2007
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@***BANNED-URL*** [/SIZE]
Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan have been the faces of the New York Giants this decade.
For the most part, they have been happy faces. The Giants went to a Super Bowl, won two division titles and advanced to the playoffs four times in the 2000s with Barber and Strahan combining for seven Pro Bowl appearances.
But now those faces are changing.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/football/Barber, the running back and offensive leader, has retired to pursue a career in television.
Strahan, the pass rusher and defensive leader, also considered retirement. He pondered it the entire summer, missing all of training camp before deciding last weekend to return for the 2007 NFL season.
In their absences, new leaders have been emerging for the Giants, who open the season Sunday against the Cowboys.
Eli Manning is the new face of the offense by nature of the position he plays – quarterback. And Osi Umenyiora has assumed a higher profile on defense, with or without Strahan, because he's now New York's best player on that side of the ball.
"I like to produce," said Umenyiora, the NFC sack leader in 2005 with 14 ½ . "When I'm producing, I'm always going to talk and I'm always going to be a leader. People follow production. If you're not producing, no one's going to listen. The more plays you make, the more you're entitled to speak."
Only nine NFL pass rushers have more sacks than Umenyiora over the last three seasons. So Umenyiora has the production to lead. But he also realizes he has benefited over the years from blocking double teams aimed at Strahan.
"This defense has always been about Michael Strahan," Umenyiora said. "This was his defense. It'd be Michael Strahan, Michael Strahan ... and over to the side would be Osi Umenyiora. He was the main guy.
"I don't think there's a better defensive end in the league right now than Michael Strahan."
But productivity-wise, Umenyiora has become the main guy. He has posted more sacks than Strahan each of the last three seasons. At 25, he's the present and future of the New York pass rush.
At 35, Strahan is wrapping up a career that has produced a franchise-record-tying 132 ½ sacks.
"It's becoming my time," said Umenyiora during a training camp interview. "I've been coddled, if you want to call it that, by Michael Strahan. I've played under his wing. But it's becoming my time."
No one has coddled Manning. When things went right for the Giants in Manning's two-plus seasons as a starter, it was because Barber was such a great back and warrior. When things went wrong, it was because Eli Manning was no Peyton Manning.
"Tiki was the face of the offense, our playmaker, our go-to guy," Manning said. "He wasn't a rah-rah type. He was just a guy who stepped up and made plays. It'll probably be spread around more now. Different guys are going to have to make plays.
"But as the quarterback, you're always the leader of the offense. You're always in charge of getting the offense in and out of plays and controlling what's going on, taking charge of the way things are happening."
The Giants are going to miss Barber's production. He finished fourth in the NFL in rushing last season with 1,662 yards – his fifth consecutive season of 1,200 yards or more.
Manning passed for 3,244 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2006. As the new face of the offense, he'll be asked to provide more, both in the huddle and on the field. The Giants believe he is ready for that challenge.
"It's interesting the way things evolve," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "As great a player as Tiki was, when he moves on, someone is going to emerge in a role that they aspire to be but never has gotten to. I think that's going to happen. More and more, people are looking for that to happen."
[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Manning, Umenyiora have begun to take over as leaders of Giants
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]10:26 PM CDT on Friday, September 7, 2007
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@***BANNED-URL*** [/SIZE]
Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan have been the faces of the New York Giants this decade.
For the most part, they have been happy faces. The Giants went to a Super Bowl, won two division titles and advanced to the playoffs four times in the 2000s with Barber and Strahan combining for seven Pro Bowl appearances.
But now those faces are changing.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/football/Barber, the running back and offensive leader, has retired to pursue a career in television.
Strahan, the pass rusher and defensive leader, also considered retirement. He pondered it the entire summer, missing all of training camp before deciding last weekend to return for the 2007 NFL season.
In their absences, new leaders have been emerging for the Giants, who open the season Sunday against the Cowboys.
Eli Manning is the new face of the offense by nature of the position he plays – quarterback. And Osi Umenyiora has assumed a higher profile on defense, with or without Strahan, because he's now New York's best player on that side of the ball.
"I like to produce," said Umenyiora, the NFC sack leader in 2005 with 14 ½ . "When I'm producing, I'm always going to talk and I'm always going to be a leader. People follow production. If you're not producing, no one's going to listen. The more plays you make, the more you're entitled to speak."
Only nine NFL pass rushers have more sacks than Umenyiora over the last three seasons. So Umenyiora has the production to lead. But he also realizes he has benefited over the years from blocking double teams aimed at Strahan.
"This defense has always been about Michael Strahan," Umenyiora said. "This was his defense. It'd be Michael Strahan, Michael Strahan ... and over to the side would be Osi Umenyiora. He was the main guy.
"I don't think there's a better defensive end in the league right now than Michael Strahan."
But productivity-wise, Umenyiora has become the main guy. He has posted more sacks than Strahan each of the last three seasons. At 25, he's the present and future of the New York pass rush.
At 35, Strahan is wrapping up a career that has produced a franchise-record-tying 132 ½ sacks.
"It's becoming my time," said Umenyiora during a training camp interview. "I've been coddled, if you want to call it that, by Michael Strahan. I've played under his wing. But it's becoming my time."
No one has coddled Manning. When things went right for the Giants in Manning's two-plus seasons as a starter, it was because Barber was such a great back and warrior. When things went wrong, it was because Eli Manning was no Peyton Manning.
"Tiki was the face of the offense, our playmaker, our go-to guy," Manning said. "He wasn't a rah-rah type. He was just a guy who stepped up and made plays. It'll probably be spread around more now. Different guys are going to have to make plays.
"But as the quarterback, you're always the leader of the offense. You're always in charge of getting the offense in and out of plays and controlling what's going on, taking charge of the way things are happening."
The Giants are going to miss Barber's production. He finished fourth in the NFL in rushing last season with 1,662 yards – his fifth consecutive season of 1,200 yards or more.
Manning passed for 3,244 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2006. As the new face of the offense, he'll be asked to provide more, both in the huddle and on the field. The Giants believe he is ready for that challenge.
"It's interesting the way things evolve," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "As great a player as Tiki was, when he moves on, someone is going to emerge in a role that they aspire to be but never has gotten to. I think that's going to happen. More and more, people are looking for that to happen."