IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
In one of those strange little coincidences of NFL life, on the day the Eagles signed a right tackle to a new contract, Jon Runyan signed one as well. Runyan's deal was for 1 year with the San Diego Chargers, who placed right tackle Jeromey Clary on injured reserve yesterday. Clary injured his left ankle in Sunday's victory over Denver.
The Eagles thought Shawn Andrews was going to replace Runyan on the right side of their offensive line when they let Runyan walk into free agency, right after he underwent microfracture knee surgery. Andrews' back problems kept that from happening. But sub Winston Justice has played so well, the Eagles extended Justice's contract for 4 years yesterday. At the news conference announcing that deal, there were questions about where Andrews fits in now, but none about Runyan.
Runyan, who turns 36 Friday, played in 192 successive NFL games before this season. He joined the Eagles as a free agent from the Tennessee Titans in 2000 and was a cornerstone of the team's turnaround into a perennial playoff contender under Andy Reid.
The Chargers' interest in Runyan dates back to September, according to general manager A.J. Smith.
“We offered Jon a job in early September,” Smith told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But at that time he respectfully declined. I talked to him on the phone and recruited hard, but I must have done a real poor job. It just happened he was available and accepted the second offer.”
Sources told the Union-Tribune that the Chargers offered Runyan a contract on Sunday night before their team plane even took off from Denver, once the preliminary diagnosis on Clary was apparent. He accepted Monday and signed the deal when he arrived in San Diego last night.
Runyan will be on the practice field with the Chargers today after immersing himself in the playbook last night upon his arrival in San Diego.
“I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in in 10 years,” Runyan told Chargers.com “I’ve been training that much. It’s my personality; when I do it outside of the football facility, I tend to overdo it. It’s a little more relaxed when you’re in the building all the time. I’ve been going four or five days a week for the past nine months so I’m there (physically).”
Runyan worked out for three teams, including the Eagles, earlier this season, and the Birds never completely closed the door on his return, but indications were he had not regained sufficient mobility when that evaluation occurred, more than 2 months ago.
It is unclear how the signing might affect Runyan's professed interest in running for the U.S. Congress in New Jersey's Third District. He has said he will not move his family from South Jersey, regardless of where he ends up playing, but even so, football tends to be a full-time job.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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