Jon Runyan Jr. could join his role model with the Tennessee Titans
By Brady Akins
Jon Runyan Jr. is the son of a former Tennessee Titans All-Pro Tackle has a lot of ties to the team.
The run-heavy Tennessee Titans might be down one starting right tackle if Jack Conklin were to leave in free agency this offseason, and might turn to the NFL draft in order to find a replacement.
Enter redshirt senior for the Michigan Wolverines, Jon Runyan Jr, who already shared a link with the Titans before the Combine even began.
Runyan’s father, Jon Runyan Sr., was a former NFL player himself, drafted in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL draft by none other than the Houston Oilers.
Runyan Sr. spent just four years as a member of the Titans franchise, but helped to build what remains as the team’s greatest season in 1999, when he was a second-team All-Pro starter on the Tennessee team that made a run through the AFC playoffs and into the Super Bowl.
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The eldest Jon Runyan moved on from Tennessee after that AFC Championship season, but did not leave on bad terms with the organization. Runyan Jr. said recently during a Combine press conference that his father still keeps in touch with current Titans players, which has given Runyan Jr. the chance to form bonds with a handful of players.
Runyan Jr. was just over two years old when his dad was playing in the Super Bowl for the Titans, but through the help of his father, he still maintains a connection to the Tennessee Titans and their current left tackle.
Taylor Lewan and Runyan Jr. are not close friends, but they do share a relationship outside of both being former Michigan student-athletes. The two linemen have “stayed connected throughout the years” according to Runyan Jr. and the current draft prospect looks to Lewan as a source of inspiration, and a source of entertainment as well.
Runyan Jr. says that Lewan has been a role model of his since before he even made it to Michigan. He loves the style with which Lewan plays, and tries to emulate Lewan’s aggressive play the best he can.
But when he’s not watching Lewan play, he’s listening to him talk on Lewan’s Bussin’ With The Boys podcast (shout out the Boys, no free shout outs). Runyan Jr. talks about Lewan having a personality that people are drawn to, and if the two were to become teammates, it’s clear chemistry or clashing play styles would not be an issue.
But if Runayn Jr. were to become a Tennessee Titan, it would mean more than just a former Michigan-man joining his role model in the NFL. The Runyan name has already found its way onto a two-toned blue jersey and if Runyan Jr. brings the name back to Nashville, he would have a chance to build on his dad’s All-Pro Titans legacy with the Titans.
Time will tell if Runyan Jr. will be getting a call from Jon Robinson on draft night, but he has a chance to make himself stand out to Robinson and Mike Vrabel during the combine. But even if he doesn’t wind up in Nashville as a Titan, he still might find his way there as a guest on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.