Giants’ Jermaine Eluemunor opens up about overcoming ‘rock bottom’

Giants free-agent offensive line addition Jermaine Eluemunor blocks out some time for some training camp Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby. 

Q: You almost quit football twice. What was the darkest low point of your depression? 

Q: The first time it was 2020. Things were going wrong when I was in New England, it’s not for everyone out there. For me, just experiencing that, dealing with the injuries I was dealing with, I had a few things going on behind the scenes, and the combination of all that just really affected me in the wrong way. And in 2023, obviously everyone knows that game against [Chicago’s] Khalil Mack, he had six sacks, three of them were on me. Two of them were out of my control, but one of them he really just whooped me, and no tackle wants to have a game like that because that’s all everyone’s going to talk about. And I remember being on the plane ride home, I didn’t say nothing to no one. I didn’t think I was good enough. This was supposed to be the year that I truly showed who I was as an offensive lineman. And I had back-to-back weeks where I gave up five sacks. Like, no one wants that at all. That’s terrible. That can go one or two ways — either learn from it and be better, or you let it eat you up, and it destroys you from inside. And for a time it destroyed me. I was struggling bad. 

Q: Can you elaborate? 

A: I was at rock bottom. … You just have negative thoughts, like, you think you’re a piece of crap, you think you’re worthless. … You think that you don’t deserve to be in the position you’re in, you don’t think you’re worthy, and you don’t think that you’re like I said just good enough to be out there. And I had to fight all these negative thoughts and demons every single week when I was out there. My confidence was shot, I had no confidence at all. I was trying out there, but I just didn’t want to be there. I felt like a shell of myself. … So I actually reached out to [Eagles right tackle] Lane Johnson, because he had prior struggles with depression. And I was like … “I’m truly struggling right now. I don’t know what I can do to get out of the little funk I’m in, or big funk I’m in.” … And he recommended a mental coach for me, his name is Brian Cain. He has been a big game-changer for me. He’s worked with a ton of the biggest and best athletes in the world. And his thing is it’s all about your confidence and meditation and just believing in yourself. And he truly changed my entire life when I met with him. You don’t really see it, but pregame I meditate now before games just to get myself in the zone. I meditate twice before a game. I meditate when I go out there, right before my warmup, and then when I go back inside I do like a 15-, 16-minute meditation, and then I have like a mental video that I watch, and it gets me in the zone and gets me to where I need to be, and it centers me so I can go out there and truly dominate. Even if I’m struggling with confidence a tiny bit, I know I have the things in place to beat that — the little thing on your shoulder saying that you’re not good enough. I have the tools in place now because of what he’s done for me, and what he continues to do for me, and that was the biggest game-changer for me. 

Q: You speak to him how often? 

A: I text him every day. We do like during the season zoom calls before the game, after the game, and if I need him, I can talk to him whenever I need to. That Jermaine that people saw last year and the year before that, I felt like that’s the old me. It’s kind of like I was in a cocoon for a while, and now, out of the cocoon, I’m able to spread my wings and truly show people who I am as a player. 

Q: So you feel liberated? 

A: Yeah, I feel like I had a ton on my shoulder. I don’t think there’s anyone more confident than me, and comfortable, and just determined, and just aspire to be great. I want this real bad, and I hope that through my play and through the way I talk and the way I present myself, people start to see that. 

Q: So how often do you speak with him? 

A: We do like a big call every week to just go over the week how things are going, like add new tools to the toolbox and figure out how I can improve, how I can be better, what I need to do, who I’m going against, what I need to do against them, what I need to do in order to put myself in the best position mentally to win. 

Q: A mental video before the game? 

A: In my video, I have GSP, Georges St.-Pierre, he wasn’t the most confident, but when he got to the arena and he knew he had a big title fight and everything was on the line, he wasn’t confident. But he would tell himself he’s confident. … Then when he got into the Octagon, he truly believed in himself and he was confident and he was able to go out there and be the best fighter of all time. … So for me, that’s how I present myself now. Like, it doesn’t start when I get in the locker room. For me it starts by the way I dress. And so I want to dress, as everyone says, as swaggy and as confident as you can be, and that’s why this year, my outfits are going to truly show how confident I am, and they’re going to be wild, they’re going to be out the box, and that’s the type of player I want to be. Confident for me starts when I walk into the stadium, and you see that by the way I dress. … And then it has another video of Mike Tyson talking about confidence, and how he’s saying he walks into the arena, he’s not confident, he’s thinking of all the ways he can lose the fight. And then when he gets into the ring he feels untouchable, and then he’s in there, he looks into the guy’s eyes and as soon as he breaks contact with Mike Tyson, he knows he’s got him right where he wants him. Pregame, I like to eye up the guy I’m going against, and as soon as he breaks contact with me, I know I got him right where I want him so I can go out there and just dominate him. 

Q: So you’ll watch both of those videos? 

A: Yup. It’s all combined. It’s like a 10-minute video. It’s like mental imagery. You see yourself dominating, so you can go out there and dominate. 

Q: Did you ever think of suicide? 

A: I don’t think I got that far. It was close in 2020, but I had the people in place to prevent all of that. But obviously I’ve had a friend who actually went through that a couple of months ago, Korey Cunningham, he was close to me, he was actually a groomsman in my wedding, and I was talking to him the week of it happening. I think the one thing, playing in the NFL, everyone always sees what’s on TV, but they don’t see what happens behind the scenes and the fight within the fight. I’m glad that more people are coming forward and talking about that now and truly getting help. 

Q: What did you mean when you said New England’s not for everyone? 

A: I’m not trying to rip on anything and rip on them, they just have a style to the way they coached and the way they present football and the way it’s practiced there, especially when Bill [Belichick] was there, and it just really wasn’t for me. Mentally I just couldn’t really handle it. 

Q: How long have you been bald, and why is bald sexy? 

A: I’ve been bald since New England. And I think bald is sexy ’cause it’s a new trend. … I don’t have a nickname for myself, but I feel like I’m a great-looking guy too, and bald game is the way to go. 

Q: Do you and Sexy Dexy, Dexter Lawrence, compare notes on your hairstyles? 

A: Nah, because Dex is good at maintaining his bald status. Me, sometimes I am lazy with it and don’t really groom enough. But I’m getting better with it. 

Q: If you could block any defenders in NFL history to test your skills, who would it be? 

A: Lawrence Taylor, obviously; Reggie White, because Reggie White was an animal. There was one clip where he just tossed Larry Allen. Lawrence Taylor was a man amongst boys in his time. 

Q: Whatever comes to mind: Brian Burns? 

A: Animal. 

Q: Kayvon Thibodeaux? 

A: Intellectual. 

Q: Dex. 

A: Tank. 

Q: Jon Gruden? 

A: One of my favorite coaches. 

Q: Tom Brady? 

A: GOAT. 

Q: What was that like? 

A: Inspiring for sure. … Just the way he approached everything, he didn’t take the shortcut for anything, like when I got there, he was like Year 20, and we had a hill in New England that we used to run after every single practice, and he was always the first in the line to run up. Even though he was 42, 43 years old, he would still be out there running the hill with us. You’re looking at yourself, I’m 25, 26, I’m like, “Why am I complaining about a hill when Tom Brady’s out here? [He has] been at the highest of the highs, and he’s running this hill.” 

Q: What drives you? 

A: Two things. First of all, I want to be great. I want to finish this game, and when I walk away I want people to look back and say, “His career didn’t start the way people and players would have wanted it, but he ended it on top and he was one of the best at his position, and for a number of years, he was one of the best.” And the second thing that drives me is my family, providing for my wife and now daughter. Especially my daughter. I want her to be able to look back in 10, 15 years and be like, “My dad truly dominated and inspired me to dominate whatever I’m going to do in life.” And that’s the mentality I want her to have, and that’s the influence I’m trying to have on her, and be for her. 

Q: How old is Arabella? 

A: Six months. 

Q: And your diaper game is good? 

A: Oh, I feel like it’s the best. It was a little tough at first. 

Q: Three dinner guests? 

A: Winston Churchill — I would love to pick his brain, especially being in that time. Muhammad Ali — the art of war is a big thing for me, and he would go to battle all the time and just the way he was so calm about it and he was always centered, I would love to see what he did to get to that position to go out there and dominate. Gandhi — I want to know what it’s like to have all these things going on around you, and not let them affect you. Just the way you go about life and how you can use different things to center you and be at peace. 

Q: Favorite movie? 

A: “300.” 

Q: Favorite actor? 

A: Gerard Butler. 

Q: Favorite actress? 

A: Meagan Good. 

Q: Favorite meal? 

A: My mother’s spaghetti bolognese. 

Q: What are your thoughts on UFOs? 

A: Oh yeah, I believe in UFOs. Actually, I think I’ve seen a couple, actually. In Vegas especially, because weird things go on in Vegas. I’ve seen a couple. And then we were on a plane, coming back from Buffalo. The door to the cockpit was open, and we were talking to pilots, because it was autopilot, and we saw these three little lights appear right in front of the window, and it was just flashing, and then they disappeared in the speed of light. And there was a bunch of other pilots on the com saying, “Did you see that?” We’re like a speck in space in the Milky Way, and there’s multiple galaxies and multiple Milky Ways, and who knows what else is out there? Like it would be cool as hell to see what’s out there. 

Q: Describe your on-field mentality. 

A: I try to be a dawg. I try to go out there and just dominate the guy I’m going against. I feel like you have to be that way as an offensive lineman, especially if you want to be a great offensive lineman. Like, I want you to dominate that guy in front of me for 60 minutes every single week. There’s not a play where I’m like, “I’m so tired, I wonder if I can do this.” It doesn’t matter how tired I am, I want to dominate that guy. 

Q: Are you the starting right tackle? 

A: I’m the starter wherever they need me. 

Q: But you’re comfortable at right tackle? 

A: Yeah, I’m comfortable everywhere. As long as I’m out there playing with my guys, that’s all that matters to me. 

Q: What would you tell Giants fans about the offensive line? 

A: That we’re working really hard, and we want to be a dominant unit, and we’re going to do that every single week, and we’ll get our best every single week. There’s not going to be a week where you have to question the heart that we show out there and the want to be a great team. 

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.