Runyan Jr. on different side of feud
Jon Runyan Jr. is bringing to the Giants-Eagles rivalry the same name, the same edge and the same blocking responsibilities that his father once did. Just to the other side. Actually, to the same side Michael Strahan was on during nine years of legendary battles with Jon Runyan Sr. that Strahan later immortalized in his Hall of Fame speech.
“My dad and Michael, even though on the field they were bitter rivals, after the game, I remember for years and years Michael would always be waiting outside the team bus,” Runyan Jr. said Thursday, on his first day at the Giants facility. “He and my dad would always chat it up. I would be standing right there.
“At the time, I was a big Eagles fan, but I was always a huge fan of Michael’s even though he and my dad had such hard, physical battles. It kind of feels like it’s coming full circle.”
Runyan Jr., 26, signed a threeyear, $30 million contract ($17 million guaranteed) this week to fill one of two vacant guard jobs on an offensive line that allowed 85 sacks — secondmost in NFL history — last season. He started 28 games at right guard and 22 at left guard (his preference) over four seasons with the Packers and is willing to play on either side.
So, how will his father — who became a New Jersey congressman (2011-15) and is now the NFL’s vice president of rules administration — react to seeing his son in blue?
“As a dad, I’m super excited for him. This is something he worked his tail off to get and improve himself from the sixth round to become a starter,” Runyan Sr. told The Post. “The Giants thing isn’t as bad as people think. Living in South Jersey, half my neighbors are Giants fans. You have to understand this business. I told my kids and wife since Day 1, ‘It could be one- or twoyear stops for the next decade, so you have to be prepared to adapt.’ ” One of the NFL’s best rivalries got a little spicier this week when Saquon Barkley signed with the Eagles after six seasons as the face of the Giants. The Runyans don’t need a history lesson.
“It’s tough, gritty football,” Runyan Jr. said. “Watching my dad and Michael go out at it twice a year was always fun — staying up late and watching that battle go down on ‘Monday Night’ and ‘Sunday Night Football.’ I’m just happy to be a part of it. It was a really special part of my childhood, and I’m excited to go forward and implement my own story.”
The Giants were “top of the list” of teams that showed Runyan Jr. immediate free-agent interest. Playing 90 minutes from his South Jersey home base was more important than any long-forgotten childhood rooting interests.
“I’m excited to be here in New York,” he said. “There is no mark against any team. I just wanted to go to a place that I felt like I was wanted and appreciated, and I found that in New York. I’m going to try to give back to them and give them my all.”
Proximity to home mattered to his father, too.
“It’s really nice that he’s not gone … because I only end up playing golf with him like once or twice an offseason,” Runyan Sr. quipped. “And you need someone like that around to say, ‘Hey, can you come over and help me move this, because I can’t pick it up myself.’ ”
If all goes according to plan, Runyan Jr. versus either Jordan Davis or Jalen Carter could mark the next five-plus years of Giants-Eagles’ trench battles. It’s rare for two competitors to go a step beyond mutual respect to the friendliness of Runyan and Strahan, who shared postgame beers in the parking lot.
Strahan welcomed Runyan Jr. to the Giants on X and joked about seeing his former rival in a new jersey.
“Michael would play catch with Junior and all his buddies, and it made for an awesome thing,” Runyan Sr. said. “People have a perception of how I played on the field, but I’m the total opposite off the field. Your ability to play this game relies on your ability to turn that switch on and off. Can you become that crazy man flying all over the place? And then you can’t live your life like that.”
Runyan Jr. credited his father with instilling a work ethic and a sense of toughness. What are the Giants getting for their money?
“He understands the intensity of it in New York and Philadelphia,” Runyan Sr. said. “He’s a better athlete than I was — shorter, but faster and probably stronger. [The edginess] comes and goes, but it’s in there, too.”