Osi Umenyiora wasn't really in the mood to get in a fight, but sometimes your hand is forced.
The former All-Pro edge rusher recalled, in great detail, the time that he had to put a young Devonta Freeman in his place while playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
"Listen, man, that Devonta Freeman story was crazy, bro," Umenyiora said with a chuckle on a recent episode of Chris Long's podcast.
"...So, we were in training camp, right? Running backs aren't really supposed to chip you in practice, you know what I mean? So, he's a rookie at the time, maybe he had no clue who I was -- as a matter of fact, I don't think he did. So we're in practice and the man just comes out and chips me, BOOM! And then he runs down the field.
"And so, I walk up to him as he's walking back and I'm like 'Yo, what are we doing?' He's like 'Shut the **** up, you ain't gonna do ****, who the **** do you think you are?' And I'm like 'Oh my god, what the hell happened?'"
Not only was Umenyiora much bigger than Freeman, but he was a two-time Pro Bowler entering his 11th season in the league. Freeman would turn out to be a two-time Pro Bowler with the Falcons, but in August of 2014, he was simply a fourth-round pick trying to make a name in his first training camp. And Umenyiora knew that name couldn't be made at his expense.
"Here's the funny thing: I'm a veteran, so I was actually going to let that slide. And so, as I turned to the sideline to walk over there, I saw a guy by the name of Jonathan Massaquoi. He was behind me, he was like my understudy. And when I looked at him, I saw he was looking at both of us and he looked at me dead in my eyes and was like 'Yeah, Os, he was talking to you.' I said 'Oh man, I gotta address the situation, right? I guess I gotta address the situation right now, because if I don't address the situation, that's it for me.'
"So I'm like 'Damn, what am I gonna do, man?' So I went and I said down -- I took a knee. And he went back to the other side of the field and the whole time I'm just thinking to myself 'Man, I gotta go handle this right now.' So you know the endzone camera? You just see me walking across the endzone to go see him, right? So I was like 'Ayy, Devonta.' And as soon as I walked to him, he was like 'Shut the **** up!'' And I was like 'OK, cool.'
"It just kicked off from there, man -- it just kicked off. And the one thing that I remember is Matt Ryan came to me after that and he was like 'Damn Osi, I didn't even know you had that in you, bro.'"
Ultimately, things worked out well for all parties involved. Umenyiora played in all 16 games in 2014, finishing off his career in Atlanta after spending the first nine with the New York Giants. Freeman wouldn't explode until his second season, but ultimately ran for nearly 4,000 yards in six seasons with the Falcons. Ironically, Freeman spent the 2020 season -- his first outside of Atlanta -- with the Giants.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram