updated 2:32 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2008

HONOLULU - Who says you don't pull on Superman's cape? The New York Giants pulled, grabbed, twisted and nearly destroyed almost everything in their path in the Super Bowl, according to Osi Umenyiora.

The defensive end who is the NFL champions' only Pro Bowl representative understandably was still celebrating his team's stunning triumph, one that prevented the New England Patriots from pro football's first unbeaten season in 35 years. As for the way he and his fellow defenders treated league MVP Tom Brady, well, Umenyiora said it was exactly what the Giants needed to do to pull off the upset.

"It sounds crazy, but I told (defensive tackle Barry) Cofield a week before the game: `This team can't beat us if we play the way we're supposed to,''' Umenyiora recalled. "Get pressure on the quarterback and you can make Superman look ordinary.

"From the parade (Tuesday) Cofield told me, `We're the best, we knocked the undefeated team off, we stomped the Patriots.''

Umenyiora was laughing when he mentioned that conversation. He's been laughing a lot since the 17-14 win gave the Giants their third Super Bowl title.

"It sounds incredible. There's no better feeling than being world champions,'' Umenyiora said after the NFC's practice. "I'm a little sad that no teammates made it with me, but I'll represent for New York.''

He usually does.

This is Umenyiora's second Pro Bowl. He was selected in 2005, when he was an All-Pro and led the NFC with 14 1/2 sacks. But he didn't have a championship on his resume then. He does now - even if he didn't get to take part in the ticker tape parade in Manhattan.

"I watched it on TV this morning and I cried when I saw them celebrating. Saw Mike (Strahan) and the coaches. I love those guys so much,'' Umenyiora said.

Umenyiora was awake at 4 a.m. Tuesday because of jet lag, so tuning into the celebration in Manhattan hardly was a problem, even with the five-hour time difference. By proxy, he did take part in it, text-messaging fellow defensive end Strahan and Cofield.

"I don't like flying,'' Umenyiora said. "If I flew to New York, I wouldn't have come back here. It's only six hours - only six, ha - from Phoenix.''

In Phoenix, the Giants punished Brady in a way the star quarterback hadn't encountered. They had five sacks and more than a dozen pressures on Brady, who spent a good portion of the Super Bowl on the ground. The line was the key to that domination against the most prolific offense in NFL history, one that scored 38 points on New York in the season finale, then managed just two touchdowns, its smallest output in 19 games, in the title game.

Pro Bowl      Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX) Taylor’s presence looms large over game Two Bengals not feeling the glow Umenyiora only Giants player in Pro Bowl Comeback led Dallas' Ellis to Honolulu Peterson, Willis, Thomas the in tow   Discuss: Sound off on game | Rosters

"Before the game, I went to Michael and to Justin (Tuck, who had two sacks) and said, `Listen, this is the Super Bowl right now and there's no way we win if we don't perform,'' Umenyiora said. "That was the type of pressure we put on ourselves, that we had to get it done.''

Umenyiora didn't have a sack in the big game, but he was a consistent force working against All-Pro tackle Matt Light. At one point, Umenyiora said he, Strahan, Tuck, Cofield and the other defenders sensed that Brady was distracted by them.

"Hey, I can understand that,'' he said. "We're out there trying to kill him.

"Brady didn't say much to me. He's cool out there, calm and cool, but everyone else said he was bothered by us.''

So much so that Brady passed on his Pro Bowl invitation. Maybe visions of Umenyiora coming at him again were too much.