Couple bowled over by love

Victoria Sun

Monday, June 24, 2002 | 8:59 a.m.

There has been John and Tatum. Brooke and Andre.

Today, there is Rick and Vanessa. Pete and Brigette, to name a few.

But the marriage of actress Angie Harmon and New York Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn last June has created one of the most notable unions of an actor and athlete in recent memory.

The talented power-couple has graced the inside of fashion bible In Style magazine and adorned many other high-profile publications.

Sehorn and Harmon breezed through the Gold Coast lobby hand-in-hand Saturday en route to the Sports Dream Bowl celebrity bowling tournament, which raised money for the Urban Youth Scholarship Fund. They wore different outfits but identical smiles.

"My powers," Sehorn explained comically on how he became one of America's most envied men by landing Harmon. "It was my powers.

"It's funny, we were messing around about how I have game. And she goes, 'You don't have any game.' And I went, 'Huh. You're married to me. So I'm 1-0.' "

As Sehorn told his story, Harmon -- a former model best known as assistant deputy attorney Abbie Carmichael on NBC's long-running hit "Law & Order" -- stood beside him trying to supress her laughter.

The sultry Texan couldn't disagree with her hubby, who proposed on one knee during a taping of "The Tonight Show" in March of 2000.

Harmon attends all of Sehorn's home games.

"I'm incredibly proud of him," she said. "I think he's exceptional at what he does. He's incredibly gifted.

"Yeah, there still is that panic part of it when one of them is out there lying unconscious. You think, that's somebody's father. That's somebody's son. That's somebody's husband. That part is terrifying, but you know, that's just part of (football)."

Sehorn, entering his ninth season, has had his share of injuries. He missed the entire 1998 season to rehabilitate a knee injury, pulled a hamstring that forced him to miss training camp in 1999 and later fractured his fibula sidelining him for six more games.

He came back strong in 2000, recording 77 tackles, two interceptions and one touchdown in 14 games. In the team's 34-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV, Sehorn had six solo tackles.

But last season turned out to be a frustrating one, with the Giants finishing 7-9 in the NFC East and Sehorn sitting out three games because of a sprained ankle.

"Personally, it was a mini-disaster of a season with lots of ups and downs," Sehorn said. "It started off kind of good with the first five games I played.

"Everything was going well. Then all of a sudden afterwards, the team sort of fell apart on us. So it kind of went downhill."

His marriage to Harmon, however, seems to be just the opposite.

Sehorn believes the pair remain normal and happy because they aren't caught up in the hype of being a celebrity couple.

They share a home in Dallas, where Harmon was born.

"I think too much is placed in all that crap," he said. "I mean, she's my wife.

"That's the person I live with every day. The person I go to bed with, wake up with, hang out with. All the other stuff is just icing on the cake. It's a fun way to live your life.

"When we're home, kicking back at the house watching television, it doesn't matter where your picture is, what somebody thinks of you good or bad. It's just the two us. Because when all is said and done at the end of the road, it's just going to be the two of us and hopefully our kids and stuff like that."

As for his team, the outlook for this season is uncertain.

The Giants lost defensive coordinator John Fox as well as 17 players including three starting offensive lineman and re-signed only safety Shaun Williams.

"I'm not too worried about anybody else and what they do," Sehorn said. "Our team, we lost so many people and we replaced them with so many young people.

"It'll be interesting to see how they step up. At some point in time, everybody in this league had to start somewhere so we're just counting on a lot of people starting this year."

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