When the Big Blue take on the Washington Redskins this coming NFL season, it will be advantage New York.

Not only will the Giants now have a confident Antonio Pierce at the centrepiece of their defence, blocking, tackling, intercepting and forcing fumbles with the vigour of a player given a new lease of life, they will also have all the Redskins offensive and defensive schemes learnt by memory.

The $33 million middle linebacker, and jewel of this season's free agency, is more than just a three-down, sideline-to-sideline defensive force, he is a smart player and a smart player with inside knowledge of a divisional rival.

“Part of the appeal of a move to New York was staying in the division,” said Pierce, relaxing at his family's Jew's Bay home over Easter, a far cry from the hype and hysteria of being a millionaire-man in New York.

“I have played against the Giants eight times now and I know a lot of the guys and how they play. I also know how to play against the Eagles and Cowboys and am looking forward to doing battle with them with a new set of team-mates.”

And when it comes to an ability to undo his former team, the franchise that plucked him undrafted from Arizona and gave him a shot in the big leagues?

“The NFL is a game, but it is also a business,” said Pierce, looking a little more uncomfortable than during the rest of the light-hearted discussion of football, New Jersey real estate, Bermuda and shooting hoops.

“Obviously I know my way around the Redskins playbook and they know that, but they will expect me to hand over the information - that is how things work in the game.

“I know all the calls, I know the players and I think I will do my bit to help us get wins in those games.

“It will be interesting playing against my old team. It will be good to catch up with friends but it is also going to be a chance for me to prove how far I have come with big performances against them.

“They know my weaknesses and will be looking to exploit them so I have to be ready to prove what I can do.”

Despite the cut-throat world he is in, Pierce did show a rare piece of genuine loyalty to the Redskins by giving them a chance to match the numbers the Giants were putting up, as he had promised to do when he decided to take the plunge into free agency - an act that meant he could leave guilt-free.

“I wanted to do the right thing by the team and particularly the defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams,” continued Pierce, who led the team in tackles in his fourth season at FedEx Field - his first as a regular starter.

“They were good to me over the years and they gave me my chance to show what I could do. I got a few games in my rookie season but then it was a hard couple of years on special teams.

“That is the way in football, they spend big money on guys and those are the guys that they want to play. They are not gong to waste that cash by playing some unknown guy on minimum salary.

“But when Mike Barrow got injured, they handed me an opportunity. I always knew I could do it but this was my chance to prove it to everyone else and that is what I think I did.

“It was a great feeling to be so central to the team's defence after that and it has worked out well for me. It would have been great to stay in Washington but you don't get chances to pick up deals like this one very often, and I had to think hard about it and do the right thing by my family.

“I said I would give Washington a chance to match any other offers but that was their call and now I can move on with no regrets.”

Pierce has formed some good friendships with team-mates, staying in touch on a daily basis during free agency with some of his defensive colleagues in Washington.

They understood, he said, and none of them hold grudges, instead offering plenty of advice and encouragement as Pierce makes the plunge into the cosmopolitan and hurried world of New York life.

This new world sees him taking courtside seats at NBA games, house-hunting in an exclusive New Jersey neighbourhood and being the new darling of the New York media, with all the public appearances and interviews that entails.

“It is something you have to get used to,” continued Pierce, set to be featured in next month's edition of ESPN magazine.

“I had to deal with the media through my years in Arizona and Washington so you get used to it. You always get misquoted or misrepresented but you stay tight with your team-mates and they know what is really being said so you don't normally get any trouble.”

As well as the extra media attention, Pierce also has the welcome problem of a 1000 percent pay rise, leaping from a minimum wage up to $6 million a year, on top of his initial bonus. Not bad work if you can get it.

“I had an idea of the numbers, my agent showed me what other middle linebackers were earning so we knew what to expect, but when the money actually came it was a nice surprise,” continued the player, noticeably bereft of the bling jewellery in which many highly-paid sports stars drench themselves.

“Of course, it is great and myself and my family should be set up for life now but I am not planning on getting silly with it. I was doing okay before so I am not going to go out and go crazy now.

“I might have a look at doing some things in the property market in Bermuda but I am not going to get some big old house in Tucker's Town.

“And, in footballing terms, there are a lot of guys on bigger money than me out there.”

And, returning to ‘in footballing terms', Pierce believes his new team, who also finished 6-10 last year, can genuinely challenge for the divisional title and knock the Eagles from their perch.

“Things are looking good here,” continued Pierce, who will be wearing the Hall of Fame number 53 next season.

“We have picked up some good free agent players, particularly people like Plaxico Burress and we have a good second-year quarterback in Eli Manning.

“There was a bit of a quarterback controversy last year but that passed and I think offensively with people like Amani Toomer and Tiki Barber, we are in a good position to score a lot of points.

“At Washington we had a very tight defence, one of the best in the NFL, but we weren't producing offensively. I think it could be a little different at New York, if we can bolster the defence - and we do get the points - then we could be in for a healthy season.

“I am going to go in there and make sure I repay the faith they are showing in me by putting in big performances and big numbers. It is a long season, but the aim is to stay healthy and get the job done.”

Away from football, Pierce is in the housing market, taking tips from team-mates on the best place to set up home. The somewhat exclusive Edgewater, New Jersey, seems to be the neighbourhood of choice for Giants stars, just a short hop from the Meadowlands complex where they spend the majority of their lives.

When they are not playing football, or videogame versions of football, most of the players attempt to relive their childhood dreams in the other sports they played in high school.

“I was sports-mad and played pretty much everything,” claimed Pierce, whose array of sports included summers of soccer back in Bermuda, something he never played during his Californian childhood.

“Basketball, track, baseball, you name it, I did it. Some of the guys get together now and shoot a few hoops. Some guys take it real serious, a chance to show they could have been contenders in the NBA too. For me, it is just a bit of fun and a chance to sweat a bit and keep fit.

“I don't really have time for much else, although I have my dogs back home in Virginia. I have kept the house down there and I have a couple of pit bulls - I wanted to bring one of them up but I don't know if I'll be allowed to keep him in the condo.”

His other non-footballing passion, and one he wants to spend more time on, is his family in Bermuda.

Pierce's Easter return was his first visit for more than four years but his next will come a lot sooner.

He intends to take a week or two in July back here to properly catch up with everyone, although the majority of the family here are quite keen to head over to New York to catch up with him.

Father Cleo Burrows and uncle Randy are both regular visitors to the States, catching pretty much every Redskins home game and many of the East Coast road trips in the past four years and even some college games in Arizona before that.

New York is even closer, which means even more visitors.

“I expect to see a few people over for every game,” he added, flashing a smile across the room to his father.

“I am looking at sorting something out, particularly for the first home game with my new team. I will probably be looking at finding some suites or something - we will probably need something for up to 30 people.

“It's nice to have the familiar faces coming over. My family mean a lot to me and I would love for any Bermudians to come over and watch the Giants.”

The flights to New York may not be full just yet on game weekends, but if confident second-year coach Tom Coughlin gets what he wants out of Pierce et al, expect charters to leave the Island Big Apple-bound for the play-offs.