Thursday, January 25, 2001
Sehorn gets coverage but provides it, too
Giants corner earns spotlight on field and off
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TAMPA, Fla. — Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn has had the best defensive postseason this side of Ray Lewis, but his coverboy image now overshadows almost everything he has done or will do on a football field.
Here's what people remember: Sehorn not only was Jay Leno's guest on “The Tonight Show,” but Sehorn proposed to his girlfriend, “Law & Order” actress Angie Harmon, and she accepted.
“It made it easy on me because my phone bill was cut dramatically,” he said. “Normally, when you get engaged, you have to call everybody and tell them. I just did it on TV.”
This is what most fans see. Sehorn appears with Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe in commercials for an investment brokerage firm and in infomercials for a product to strengthen abdominal muscles. He has graced several magazine covers.
He's the perfect New York athlete: He has good looks and a TV star fiancee and is articulate and accommodating in the nation's biggest market. But there's more to Sehorn than image. There's talent. There's substance.
Ask Sehorn how he sees his image. “That I'm a good role model, that I'm an example,” he said this week as his Giants prepared to play the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV. “Basically, somebody you can look to as an athlete, somebody you don't have to worry about throwing people through plate-glass windows, embarrassing the organization.”
There's also a lot of character.
After becoming a starter in 1996 and intercepting 11 passes in '96 and '97, Sehorn missed most of the next two seasons with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and a broken leg. It was during his time away from football, even though he was busy recovering from both injuries, that Sehorn's off-field career took off.
At first, he couldn't walk or get out of bed, but once he could get around, Sehorn was criticized as a pretty boy whose ability couldn't live up to the hype.
“I've done the same exact things this year I did the last two years, except I played football,” he said. “The difference is I played in 14 games this year, whereas the last two seasons, out of (32), I played in 10.
“I wasn't playing football. It's difficult when you don't have ligaments in your knee and a broken leg. This year I am healthy. I get to play football. People aren't so concerned with what I'm doing off the field, because I'm playing football. We're at the Super Bowl, and people don't care if I'm on magazine covers.”
Sehorn, who will turn 30 in April, started all 14 games in which he played and had 73 tackles and two interceptions.
He was more productive in crunch time, returning a Jacksonville onside kick 38 yards for a touchdown in the season's last game, a victory that clinched home-field advantage for the Giants throughout the playoffs.
In the Giants' first postseason game, against Philadelphia, Sehorn made a spectacular interception — diving for the ball, tipping it into the air and catching it before getting up and running 32 yards for a touchdown.
And in the NFC title game against Minnesota, Sehorn shut down Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss, holding him to two receptions for 18 yards; he also intercepted Daunte Culpepper.
“Jason is getting better every game,” New York defensive coordinator John Fox said. “We're thankful he's back to the form he was back in '97.”
But in a way, Sehorn can't win. What do most people remember about his season? In Game 11 against the Lions, Detroit receiver Johnnie Morton got behind Sehorn and caught a pass from Charlie Batch and ran toward the end zone. Sehorn's uniform pants became loose and started to drop.
“There's nothing you can do about that,” Sehorn said. “I'm already getting scored on. Do I lose my pants at the same time? No.”
Still, life is good on the field and off.
“It's as close to perfect - it will be after I get married,” said Sehorn, whose commer cial co-star, Sharpe, will attend the wedding. “The (Super Bowl) ring would help.
“As a kid, you love to go to the circus. I'm going to look at this as a circus. How many chances am I going to have to be here? It might not ever happen again. My approach is this is the last Super Bowl I'm playing in. You can't be guaranteed.”
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Sehorn gets coverage but provides it, too