The beef between Osi Umenyiora and New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese seems to be over.
The new Atlanta Falcons defensive end dropped a "the team I was with" at his introductory news conference Thursday, but he only had positive things to say about Reese -- at least publicly.
"Me and Jerry are cool, man," Umenyiora said, via the New York Daily News' Ralph Vacchiano. "We've always been cool. Jerry's my guy. Obviously if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't even be here, because obviously the team did a comprehensive amount of research on me and my background because of some of the things that have been reported. They wanted to know what type of person I was. So obviously they had to talk to Jerry Reese as well as my coach, and they had nothing but positive things to say."
The tension between the two stems from Umenyiora signing in 2005 a seven-year contract that he always thought was too low. During the lockout, the two-time Pro Bowl player accused Resse of backing out of a promise to give him a raise or trade him. Afterward, Umenyiora, according to reports, said he'd never speak to Reese again.
Things seem to be all good now. Umenyiora is thrilled to be in his hometown and on a Super Bowl contender. Reese still has plenty of talent at defensive end with Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck.
Why not make nice, at least publicly?
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
