Jon Runyan Jr. joins the other side of Giants-Eagles rivalry
Packers guard Jon Runyan looks on after an NFL game against the Giants on Dec. 11, 2023, at MetLife Stadium. Credit: AP/Bryan Woolston
Jon Runyan Jr. is among seven free agents who became Giants this week.
He is the only one, of course, whose father had many physical, emotional battles on the football field against Michael Strahan.
Young Runyan is completely aware of the history. Back then, the Strahan-Runyan battles were the equivalent of heavyweight fights. The acrimony between the two was palpable.
The younger Runyan was born in 1997, the same year his father first faced Strahan on the field. So he truly did grow up during the rivalry.
Now, as Runyan joins the Giants, he seemed to enjoy the trip down memory lane.
“Dad played for the Eagles for nine years,” Runyan said Thursday during a Zoom news conference. “I grew up in South Jersey. I kind of understand the whole NFC East rivalry between all these teams. It’s some tough, gritty football.”
Partly thanks to his father and Strahan.
“Watching my dad and Michael go at it twice a year was always fun,” Runyan said. “Especially watching it go down on Monday Night and Sunday Night Football. I’m just happy to be part of it. It’s a special part of my childhood, and excited to go forward and implement my own story going forward.”
The younger Runyan spent his first four seasons with the Packers.
According to the Giants, Runyan and Strahan, who played his entire Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Giants, battled each other in the trenches 14 times — 13 games in the regular season (the first when Runyan played for Tennessee in 1997, the others when he was with the Eagles) and once in the 2000 playoffs. Strahan had 14 sacks in the regular-season games and one in the postseason matchup.
While Strahan and Runyan, had their battles on the field, they now are friends off of it. And Strahan congratulated the younger Runyan after he became a Giant.
Certainly, the Giants have a long way to go. They are counting on Runyan to be part of the solution.
The Giants also signed offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and running back Devin Singletary on Thursday. Eluemunor raved about new offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo’s ability to bring out the best in his linemen. He played for Bricillo with the Raiders. Eluemunor can play guard or tackle, which is always valuable and is particularly so with right tackle Evan Neal coming off a difficult and injury-marred season.
Singletary will continue to wear No. 26, the same number as the departed-for-the-Eagles Saquon Barkley.
“Saquon is great. Everyone knows that,” Singletary said. “I’m just happy to be a Giant. I’m looking forward to a great opportunity here and I’m ready to get to work. That’s how I’m looking at it.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
