Former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora revealed this week that he had been dealing with a serious health scare, which resulted in him being in a coma for several days and being away from his role on “The Breakdown” for an extended period of time.
Umenyiora said he went through “some real adversity” and that he had been in a “really, really bad place,” though he never specifically mentioned what was medically wrong with him.
“I was in the hospital for almost a month. I was in a coma for five days, had some extensive surgery,” the former Giants star said. “I was in a really, really bad place. And I find out right then and there who actually loved me. Because there were some people who showed up every single day. There were some people who came to see me when I was in a coma. There were some people who traveled from all across the world to come see me when I was at my lowest points.”
Umenyiora, who co-hosts “The Breakdown” on the NFL UK & Ireland YouTube page with former Giants teammate Jason Bell, mentioned how there were people who he thought would be there for him and didn’t show up.
On the other end of the spectrum, he also made sure to show some love to those who did show up for him, such as Bell.
“This man right here was by my side,” Umenyiora said of his co-host. “I remember when I got up and I saw him for the first time, I just started crying because I could feel the love. So don’t you ever mistake what we got going on up here for something that’s not real because this is real, and I love you, J-Bell. I really, really appreciate everything you did. They told me that when I heard your voice, my heart rate started to spike, which was absolutely incredible.”
Umenyiora, 44, was a second-round pick in 2003 and played 11 seasons in the NFL for the Giants and Falcons.
He was a member of the 2008 and 2012 Super Bowl-winning Giants teams and had been a two-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro.
Bell played six seasons in the NFL and was teammates with Umenyiora in 2006 in the Big Apple.
The London-born Umenyiora has spent the past decade as an NFL analyst in the UK since his retirement in 2015.