We've been talking over the last couple of years about this guy, Tamba Hali. Kansas City Chiefs fans see him every Sunday so we're well aware that this guy is pretty damn good. The rest of the league got to know him a little more last season but he's still not a household name while his numbers, and his play, suggest he should be.
Hali was voted the 64th best player in the league on NFL Network's top 100 players (which is absolutely too low) and New York Giants DE Osi Umenyiora was the one presenting Hali in the video.
Reader bfett81 passed along the video of Hali's ranking on NFLN's top 100 show and I jotted down some of the best quotes from the three-plus minute segment.
Osi Umenyiora: "Watch his hands, man, they're always moving very, very fast. He's very violent with his hands is what I should say. No question, I say he is one of the best at using his hands."
Umenyiora: "I study defensive ends, every last one of them. I know every defensive end in football. I studied him because I liked to see what he was doing with his hands and I want to emulate some of those things. Just watch most of the sacks he got and you'll see hand movements, swipes, inside swipes, outside swipes, chop moves and things like that he's using against the quarterback."
Colts player: "Tamba Hali, he making me a believer."
Todd Haley: "That's a way Tamba! That's a hell of a play, man."
Umenyiora: "He's playing in Kansas City and they just started winning this year. I think the more exposure the team gets, the more exposure he's going to get. People just don't know about him."
Umenyiora: "The first time I really noticed him was a rookie. I just noticed him right away. You could make up for a lot of things with relentless pursuit. You know, you see them pump-faking and you stop your rush. That might cost you the sack you needed but, for him, the quarterback could pump-fake from now until he's blue in the face and Tamba's not going to stop rushing."
Haley: "That's a way, kid. You gotta keep bringing it Tamba!"
Umenyiora: "He's always been relentless like that, attacking the quarterback. He just wasn't playing with the type of technique that he's playing with now. Over the years, you can see him develop and see how that has progressed in his game. He started off, like most defensive ends coming into the league, playing off natural ability, but you could see he was still thinking while he was playing. He just kept getting better."