A Giant from London Dreaming of World Cup Glory

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As the right tackle for the New York Giants, Jermaine Eluemunor knows how to measure the loyalties and passions of a fan base. He works for a flagship NFL franchise in the league's biggest market, and he just got a close-up look at how the Knicks' historic NBA title moved an entire region. But if his home country, England, finally goes the distance in the World Cup for the first time in six decades, Eluemunor believes that nobody in or around sports will come up with a worthy precedent.

"If England wins the World Cup, there's no celebration in the history of the world that could compare to how that celebration would be in the U.K. I promise you that," Eluemunor told The Athletic on his ride to his home field, MetLife Stadium, where he watched The Three Lions defeat Panama, 2-0, to win their group on the way to the round of 32. "It will be the Knicks times a hundred, that's how committed fans are in England."

From London to the NFL

Born and raised in London, Eluemunor was an Arsenal fan with Premier League ambitions before he realized his size and physicality were better suited for rugby than for the beautiful game. He discovered American football as a 12-year-old in 2007 while flipping channels and stumbling upon the Giants-Dolphins game at Wembley Stadium. It was love at first sight.

Eluemunor was 14 when he moved with his father, John, to the United States, where he played football for Morris Knolls High School in New Jersey. Father and son initially struggled with the adjustment and their time away from family and returned to England. A couple of weeks later, Eluemunor pleaded with his parents to let him make a permanent move to the States.

"I basically begged my parents to let me come back," Eluemunor recalled. "I had a goal and I had a dream, and if you truly believe in your dream, if you truly want something that's really in your heart, then you've got to do everything humanly possible to achieve that. Me begging my parents to come back was me telling them, 'I'm going to make it. I'm going to become a professional football player.'"

He made it to the NFL via Lackawanna College and Texas A&M. The Baltimore Ravens' fifth-round pick in 2017 played for five teams over eight seasons, practice squads included, before finding a home with the Giants in 2024. Last March, John Harbaugh signed him to a three-year, $39 million deal.

"I truly believe I was bred to be a New York Giant and born to be on this team and to try to make a difference, and I wouldn't have it any other way," Eluemunor said. "I love American football more than anything, and I've committed my life to it, but I still love soccer. I'm a huge Arsenal fan and a humongous England fan."

'It Is Life. It Is Everything'

That's why he was part of the MetLife crowd of 80,663, when Jude Bellingham and the indomitable Harry Kane scored in the second half to win Group L and inject a bit more faith into a fatalistic fan base that wants to believe a major championship is coming home for the first time since 1966.

"Simply incredible!" Eluemunor texted after attending a match for the first time. "Nothing compares to a World Cup game!"

The NFL veteran had just made it back from a trip to London to run his American football camp for young girls. If Eluemunor wasn't the biggest name at England-Panama (David Beckham was in the house), he might've been the biggest spectator, at 6-foot-4, 339 pounds. He could have told some of the Giants fans in his midst a thing or three about what football — real football — means to people back in England, the sport's home office.

"It is life," Eluemunor said. "It is everything. People commit their lives to their team. They are born and raised into these fan bases. You see teams like Bournemouth and Brentford, or QPR and Coventry in the Championship, little kids are supporting them because their parents are die-hard supporters and they had no option but to support those teams. It's either, 'You support this team or you're not my kid.' That's how crazy the fan bases are in the U.K."

Of course, the national team inspires an entirely different level of devotion … and angst. Though Team USA could author the greatest of red, white and blue miracles around the 250th anniversary of the country's declared independence, the Americans aren't under intense pressure to actually pull it off.

In England, the motherland, the pressure doesn't come and go. It's everywhere the footballers turn, 24/7.

"We have always had great freakin' players, some of the best in the world playing for us," Eluemunor said. "When you have that and you are England, the home of football, the place where football was made and spread throughout the world … you will have lofty expectations. That comes with wearing the logo and having that England crest on your chest. You represent the people of England and those who live and breathe this game."

A Tattoo and a Return Home

The Three Lions entered the World Cup among the favorites to win it, and, despite their struggles in a scoreless draw with Ghana, Eluemunor said he sees them reaching the final and facing France. He praised the team's midfielders, called Thomas Tuchel "the best coach in the World Cup," and said Kane, now England's all-time leading goal scorer in this competition, is "the best striker in the world."

If England survives and advances through its first four knockout rounds and then wins it all at MetLife on July 19, Eluemunor said he will get a tattoo (probably on his thigh) of the final score, the team logo and the trophy. He also said he will return to his country to celebrate before the Giants start training camp.

"One hundred percent, I'm going back for sure," he said. "Winning the World Cup is so hard, and everything has to go right. You have to be on the right side of the bracket … and it's just like the Super Bowl in that you need luck on your side. I'd go back because when's the next time it's going to happen? … If England wins the World Cup, I can promise you there's nothing to compare to that. I don't have the words. It would be indescribable."

And unforgettable to a Giant from London still enthralled by the beautiful game.