The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with the Giants center about life in the trenches and his favorite things off the field.
Q: Your best practical joke?
A: I’m pretty proud of the one I pulled off this year in training camp.
Q: When you stole Eli Manning’s E-ZPass tag?
A: (Chuckles). I had somebody take it off his front license plate. All you had to do was unscrew it off the license plate and – bam! – it’s yours. I waited ’til the last day of camp because I knew he’d be going down 87. He claimed the first time it said, “E-ZPass tag not read.” By the second toll, he realized something was up. The funny thing was he told me he thought about stealing my E-ZPass after he was already on the road. The next day he was telling people, “Someone stole my E-ZPass.”
Q: You confessed a few days later?
A: Somebody brought it up and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Q: Funniest moment in the huddle?
A: When I was with Cleveland, Barry Stokes (urinated) in his pants during a TV timeout, he’d been drinking so much water and Gatorade. He told the trainer to give him a towel, and he shoved the towel down his pants and gave towel back to the trainer.
Q: One offbeat request from the Leadership Council that Tom Coughlin granted?
A: No curfew in London on Friday night.
Q: Best-dressed Giant?
A: RW McQuarters.
Q: Worst-dressed Giant?
A: It’s a tie between Rich Seubert and (strength and conditioning coach) Jerry Palmieri.
Q: Wellington Mara anecdote?
A: The first thing I realized was how much he loved being around the offensive line. He’d stand around our area on the practice field … When we beat Dallas my first year in the last game of the season, we were all kinda busted up. Jason Whittle had cracked ribs and I had a high ankle sprain. I remember him coming up to me and saying, “Thank you for putting it out on the field, I know how much pain you were in.”
Q: Centers you enjoy watching?
A: Olin Kreutz; Kevin Mawae.
Q: Your first NFL start (for the Browns) in Baltimore?
A: I remember all week my offensive line coach telling me Tony Siragusa was gonna eat my lunch. Nobody had scored in 16 quarters on them, and we actually scored on the very first drive. It ticked them off. I don’t remember getting a first down after that.
Q: You grew up in Chicago. Who was better, the 2000 Ravens defense, or the ’85 Bears?
A: I’m sticking with the Bears.
Q: Your 2-yard TD catch (Sept. 23, 2001)?
A: My first and only. It’s every big man’s dream to score a touchdown at some point.
Q: What kind of route did you run?
A: A drag route across back of end zone.
Q: Who was the quarterback?
A: Tim Couch.
Q: Did you spike it?
A: No, I wanted to keep the ball. I didn’t want spike it and have to chase it around the end zone.
Q: Athletes in other sports you admire?
A: Tiger Woods; LeBron James; Derek Jeter.
Q: Boyhood idol?
A: My father (David); Walter Payton; Mike Singletary.
Q: Why your father?
A: He played college football (at Eastern Illinois). He probably had the talent to play at the next level but never had the chance to. It kinda drove me to try to fulfill that dream for both of us, really.
Q: Favorite childhood memory?
A: My 13th birthday I got a bike I fell in love with at this store, a Mongoose Decade Pro. It was the coolest bike on the block.
Q: Favorite Rutgers memory.
A: Beating Syracuse in double overtime at home.
Q: Why were Michael Strahan and David Wright interviewed during the South Florida game this year and not you?
A: ‘Cause they’re celebrities and I’m not. Here’s the way that I’ve reasoned with myself – everybody knows I went to Rutgers; it’s more important that Rutgers show that people not associated with program are coming to their games. Plus, Strahan had to plug his book.
Q: My sources tell me you were walking in the background trying to get on camera.
A: No truth to that.
Q: Your new BMW?
A: (Chuckles) That’s my sports car, I got an M6.
Q: Isn’t it a tad small?
A: (Laughs) I have a Hummer (too). It balances things out. Michael Strahan has the same car. He’s a few inches taller than I am. If he can get in it, I can get in it.
Q: Where did you propose to your fiancee?
A: Nobu 57.
Q: Your sleep apnea?
A: It’s a condition where you stop breathing in the middle of the night; a lot of people who are heavy snorers can encounter sleep apnea. I’ve always been a very loud snorer, so I decided to get tested. They gave me a machine for when I sleep; you put a mask over your mouth or your nose.
Q: Is it true you grew your beard to look like (Colts center) Jeff Saturday?
A: My fiancee likes it; and I think it makes my face look thinner.
Q: Do you think you look like Saturday?
A: Actually no; I think Jeff Saturday looks like me.
Q: Best Giant moment?
A: Re-signing this offseason; winning the division in 2005 out in Oakland.
Q: Worst Giant moment?
A: The playoff losses the last two years.
Q: How scary was your staph infection (in 2004)?
A: It never got to the point where it was life-threatening. I realized the urgency once they got me to the hospital and put IVs in me.
Q: Word association: Seubert?
A: Shrek.
Q: Chris Snee?
A: Worst tattoo.
Q: Kareem McKenzie?
A: Suge Knight.
Q: David Diehl?
A: Versatility.
Q: Eli?
A: Witty.
Q: How often does he take the O-line out to dinner?
A: At least once a month.
Q: Biggest eater?
A: Snee or Seubert, and I think it shows.
Q: Ray Rice?
A: He’s gonna be fun to watch. He’s got a little LaDainian Tomlinson in him.
Q: Describe what you feel like on Monday morning after playing against Ted Washington?
A: Or Shaun Rogers. Picture being in a Honda Accord that gets T-boned by a bus and rolls over about 20 times and that’s about how sore you are.
Q: Most embarrassing moment?
A: Not realizing the quarterback was in shotgun and snapping the ball into my own butt.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus Christ; Michael Jordan; Einstein.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: The “Rocky” movies; “Gladiator;” “Wedding Crashers.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Will Ferrell.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Pearl Jam; Creed.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Pasta with Italian sausage.