How Jon Runyan Jr. embraces a football legacy of Eagles' green that now bleeds Big Blue

EAST RUTHERFORD - Saquon Barkley isn't the only one who switched sides in the Giants - Eagles rivalry.

Jon Runyan Jr. never played for the franchise from the City of Brotherly Love, but his dad did,

And as a son, the Giants' starting left guard grew up an avid Eagles fan.

That legacy of a bloodline that long lived and died with Eagles' kelly green now runs deep for Big Blue as Runyan Jr. crosses paths with his father's team in a game within the rivalry for the first time Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

Runyan Jr. actually keeps a reminder on his cell phone of the many epic on-field battles Jon Runyan and Michael Strahan had through the years. The photo is from outside the Eagles' player entrance at Lincoln Financial Field and it's of a teenage Runyan Jr. - in his father's No. 69 - being hugged from behind by Strahan, looking dapper in a grey suit.

"Maybe the Giants seed was planted all the way back then," Runyan Jr. quipped with a smile, repeating the playful sentiment from a reporter at his locker as he flipped through to that photo after practice Thursday. "Growing up, I always thought Michael and my dad were friends. After the game they played, every year, Michael would come out to the buses, and he and my dad would chat it up."

Strahan and Runyan Jr.'s mother Loretta went to the same high school - Westbury High School in Houston, Texas - so that was another shared connection. When Strahan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2014, the Giants' legend invited the entire Runyan family to be in the audience in Canton - and they were, the future Giant included.

"One of my favorite things is knowing that Jon Runyan has to root for the Giants,” Strahan said when Jon Jr. signed as a free agent in March. “That was the first thing that came to my mind, ‘Thank God, now Jon has to actually root for the Giants. This is going to be awesome.'”

Runyan and Strahan fought each other in the trenches 14 times over their careers: 13 regular season games, including a dozen in the Giants-Eagles rivalry, and once in the 2000 playoffs.

In those games, Strahan had 14.0 sacks in the regular season and one in the postseason. The older Runyan is in the Eagles Hall of Fame. He served two terms as a South Jersey congressman from South Jersey after his playing career ended and has been the NFL's Vice President of Policy and Rules Administration since 2016.

"Fifth, sixth and seventh grade, I was in the Eagles' locker room all the time," Runyan Jr. said. "I was around Terrell Owens, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, Donovan McNabb, Tra Thomas, Jeremiah Trotter - it was a really cool experience. When I got to the fifth grade, my mom started letting me go to the prime time games. I wouldn't get home until 1 a.m., and I'd go to school the next morning wearing the same outfit I wore to the game, my dad's jersey on."

Runyan Jr., 27, has played every snap for the Giants this season and is part of a veteran-laden offensive line that now must find a way to replace star left tackle Andrew Thomas, out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury earlier this week. Third-year pro Joshua Ezeudu is expected to start at left tackle, although Jermaine Eluemunor could shift from right to left tackle with Evan Neal getting his first action this season at RT.

"His locker's right there. I hate to say it, but we're moving on from him at this point," Runyan Jr. "He's not going to be able to help us anymore out on the field this season. He can help us in the locker room and off the field and stuff like that, but going forward and what matters going on the field in these games, it's just going to be the eight guys that dress up there on game day. Only that is going to help us win football games. It's a big loss to miss AT, but we've got to go forward without him now. That's just how this league is."

Runyan Jr. said family and friends hit him up for "about 20 tickets," but he expects more in the stands Sunday showing support. For anyone he invited, there was one big concession they had to make, and it was non-negotiable.

"They're all going to be in Giants gear, or else they're not allowed to be around us," Runyan Jr. said. "But everybody's excited. This is a big one. Obviously, when I was a little kid, I grew up as a huge Eagles fan, but work took me elsewhere. Now I'm the biggest Giants fan in the world."

What Runyan Jr. and the Giants would give for a victory over the Eagles that would not only stabilize their season, but provide yet another jolt of optimism. Knowing what it means to Big Blue, even Jon Runyan Sr. might concede that much, albeit reluctantly.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How Jon Runyan Jr. embraces a football legacy of Eagles' green that now bleeds Big Blue