Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Michigan men
Jon Sr. jumped on board as a volunteer coach at St. Joe's, charting line fronts and stunts during games, but he was hands-off regarding his son's personal development other than showing him how to watch film and study opponents.
By this time, Jon Sr. also had his hands full as a New Jersey member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite the hectic schedule, he missed only one game of his son's high school career – due to a government shutdown, which forced him to listen to the high school's radio broadcast from his office on Capitol Hill.
On most Fridays, Congress would be out of session by 3 p.m. ET, giving Jon Sr. just enough time to get back to the Philly area for the games.
"We're fortunate enough, I could jump on Amtrak and go from D.C. to Philly and it's less than a two-hour ride," Jon Sr. said. "There would be times I'd go straight to the field, but I got it done."
Jon Jr. had all the makings of a major D-I prospect but his recruiting process was relatively simple. Preferably, he wanted to go to Michigan, where his father played, but anywhere was fine with the Runyans as long as it wasn't Ohio State.
And that was no joke. One year, after St. Joe's football team helped out at an Ohio State football camp, all of the players were granted a photo opportunity with Urban Meyer. Jon Jr. respectively shook the hand of the Buckeyes coach and took the photo, while dressed head to toe in Michigan maize and blue.
"I don't think we ever talked about anything but Michigan," Infante said. "I don't think there was even another school we contemplated."
The Runyans traveled to Ann Arbor for a football camp after Jon Jr.'s sophomore year of high school. Coincidentally, Jon Jr. was introduced on that trip to graduate assistant Adam Stenavich, who is now his position coach with the Packers.
The trip was a homecoming for Jon Sr., whose NFL career contributed to him going 16 years without attending a game at the Big House. Even when he did return, it was a political fundraising event – not leisure – that brought him home.