Osi Umenyiora

LOVE HIM or hate him, it's sad that former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor has put his Super Bowl XXV ring up for auction because he needs the cash. Bids will be accepted on the ring, listed on SCP Auctions website, until Saturday. The ring has the words "Giants World Champions" on it and features two large football shaped diamonds and 17 smaller ones. On the side of it is the Hall of Famer's last name and his number 56. On Thursday morning the high bid was $37,982.

ON FRIDAY, we reported that former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was auctioning his Super Bowl XXV ring because he needed cash. That turned out to be wrong. A representative of Taylor told Fox Sports that the Hall of Famer had given the ring to his son, TJ, and was unaware that it was being sold. Another person unaware of that fact was Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who we also wrote about on Friday. Umenyiora had admitted it was insensitive to think that comparing LeSean McCoy to a woman was an insult.

OSI UMENYIORA is 30 years old, but acts like he's 2. On Sunday, the Giants defensive end rekindled a feud with LeSean McCoy by sending the Eagles running back a tweet that said, "Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy! Enjoy your special day!!" Hmmmm. Wonder how long Osi has been saving that little gem? McCoy responded by tweeting, "Lol let the beef begin. " Actually, the "beef" began in June. Umenyiora was in a contract dispute with the Giants and McCoy tweeted that the two-time Pro Bowler was "overrated" and "soft.

INDIANAPOLIS - You may have been one of the nearly one million on YouTube to watch Jason Pierre-Paul do 13 backflips in a row when he was at South Florida. If you did, you probably had the same reaction as the New York Giants, who were looking to upgrade the defensive end position two years ago. "We saw 6-foot-4, 288 pounds that could stand up and do a backflip, and we went, 'Wow,' " Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell recalled this week. But that kind of wow doesn't always translate into an NFL wow , and it is one of the reasons Pierre-Paul slipped past 14 teams - including the Eagles - in the first round of the 2010 draft.

NEW ORLEANS - Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints torched the collapsing New York Giants, 49-24, on Monday night. Brees completed 24 of 38 attempts for 363 yards, and the Saints raised their record to 8-3 and took over first place in the NFC South. The Giants (6-5) lost their third straight and took a beating on both the scoreboard and on the field. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora went out with a sprained ankle and receiver Hakeem Nicks was rocked by a vicious collision with Saints rookie safety Isa Abdul-Quddus.

Each week, Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch will tell you the things he will be keeping his eyes on during that week's game. Here is how things panned out yesterday: 1. The turnover battle: Going into yesterday's game, the Eagles had scored just 53 points off of 18 turnovers. Against the Giants, however, they scored two touchdowns that were set up by first- and second-quarter interceptions and a field goal set up by a third-quarter fumble recovery. The Giants, who came into the game having scored 65 points on 13 turnovers, got a field goal after recovering a fumble in the third quarter.

Houston Texans receiver Andre John-son wants a new contract. The Pro Bowl wideout skipped the team's first voluntary practice of the offseason yesterday and no one is sure when he will join the team. Johnson has 5 years left on an 8-year contract worth $60 million that included $15 million in guarantees. The Texans restructured his first contract with 2 years remaining. General manager Rick Smith said the situation is "very difficult" because Johnson has so much time left on his current contract.

A dozen facts and figures about Sunday's Eagles-Giants game: 1. The Eagles are ranked second in passer rating (100.2) behind the Chargers (103.0). Michael Vick leads the NFL with a passer rating of 115.1. 2. Andy Reid's winning percentage in November (31-17-1, .643) and December (32-15, .681) is better than his overall record (114-70-1, .619) 3. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson has 13 catches for 317 yards (24.38 yards per reception) and four touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing, one returned punt)

With the retirement of seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan, the job of repeating as Super Bowl champions was going to be difficult for the New York Giants. Now it might be near impossible with the news that fellow Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora is out for the season with a knee injury. An MRI yesterday showed that Umenyiora tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee in a preseason game against the archrival Jets on Saturday night. The two-time Pro Bowler will have surgery tomorrow at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

ON FRIDAY, we reported that former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was auctioning his Super Bowl XXV ring because he needed cash. That turned out to be wrong. A representative of Taylor told Fox Sports that the Hall of Famer had given the ring to his son, TJ, and was unaware that it was being sold. Another person unaware of that fact was Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who we also wrote about on Friday. Umenyiora had admitted it was insensitive to think that comparing LeSean McCoy to a woman was an insult.

LOVE HIM or hate him, it's sad that former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor has put his Super Bowl XXV ring up for auction because he needs the cash. Bids will be accepted on the ring, listed on SCP Auctions website, until Saturday. The ring has the words "Giants World Champions" on it and features two large football shaped diamonds and 17 smaller ones. On the side of it is the Hall of Famer's last name and his number 56. On Thursday morning the high bid was $37,982.

OSI UMENYIORA is 30 years old, but acts like he's 2. On Sunday, the Giants defensive end rekindled a feud with LeSean McCoy by sending the Eagles running back a tweet that said, "Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy! Enjoy your special day!!" Hmmmm. Wonder how long Osi has been saving that little gem? McCoy responded by tweeting, "Lol let the beef begin. " Actually, the "beef" began in June. Umenyiora was in a contract dispute with the Giants and McCoy tweeted that the two-time Pro Bowler was "overrated" and "soft.

INDIANAPOLIS - Finish. That was the word coach Tom Coughlin drilled into his team this season. Finish. No matter how deep the hole, no matter how seemingly hopeless the situation, finish. It was the impetus for seven fourth-quarter comebacks, including the coup de grace Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was what kept them going as they dealt with a seemingly endless string of injuries. It was what prevented them from going in the tank after consecutive November-December losses to the 49ers, Eagles, Saints and Packers.

INDIANAPOLIS - LeSean McCoy wished he was at his first Super Bowl under different circumstances, but the Eagles running back is still basking in the glow of his breakout 2011 season. So one day he's in California shooting a commercial for Nike, and then another he's in Hawaii playing in the Pro Bowl and then on Wednesday he was at Super Bowl media headquarters at the JW Marriott to receive the FedEx Ground Player of the Year award. While the personal accolades are great, McCoy said he would give it all back to have the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

INDIANAPOLIS - You may have been one of the nearly one million on YouTube to watch Jason Pierre-Paul do 13 backflips in a row when he was at South Florida. If you did, you probably had the same reaction as the New York Giants, who were looking to upgrade the defensive end position two years ago. "We saw 6-foot-4, 288 pounds that could stand up and do a backflip, and we went, 'Wow,' " Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell recalled this week. But that kind of wow doesn't always translate into an NFL wow , and it is one of the reasons Pierre-Paul slipped past 14 teams - including the Eagles - in the first round of the 2010 draft.

REX RYAN got on the phone, paused for a second and then offered the one positive thought he could come up with. "Well, I got up this morning," the New York Jets coach deadpanned, "so that's a good thing. " But Ryan was just getting started on setting the tone yesterday for a wild week leading up to a huge showdown with the rival Giants. For anyone who wondered whether the bold and brash coach would be muffled by what he called a "horrible performance" against the Eagles, not a chance.

NEW ORLEANS - Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints torched the collapsing New York Giants, 49-24, on Monday night. Brees completed 24 of 38 attempts for 363 yards, and the Saints raised their record to 8-3 and took over first place in the NFC South. The Giants (6-5) lost their third straight and took a beating on both the scoreboard and on the field. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora went out with a sprained ankle and receiver Hakeem Nicks was rocked by a vicious collision with Saints rookie safety Isa Abdul-Quddus.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - This was supposed to be the final trip to the breakfast buffet for the New York Giants, a team that opened this season facing a slew of lesser opponents, then spent the last month playing three home games (and enjoying a bye week) before entering a very tough closing stretch. Starting next week against New England, the Giants face just one team (the Eagles) with a losing record the rest of the season. And yet, in a season in which little has come easily for the Giants, even beating the lowly Miami Dolphins on Sunday was a challenge.

Each week, Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch tells you what he will be keeping his eyes on during the Eagles game. Here is how things panned out yesterday vs. the Giants: 1. Air assault: One of the Eagles' greatest strengths is their receiving corps. One of the Giants' biggest weaknesses was supposed to be their pass defense, especially cornerback Aaron Ross, an injury-prone former first-rounder who hasn't lived up to expectations. So what happened? Michael Vick and Mike Kafka combined for three interceptions and no touchdowns.