Ex-NFL player Runyan considering run for Congress in New Jersey

[Auggie]

A.P. 11-12-09

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- Former NFL player Jon Runyan says he's considering running for Congress.

In a statement issued Wednesday by the Burlington County Republican Committee, Runyan says he believes the country is being taken in the wrong direction by career politicians.

Runyan, an offensive lineman, played 13 seasons in the NFL, the last nine with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 35-year-old is out of football this season, though he has talked to the Eagles and other teams about coming back to play.

If Runyan runs for Congress, it would be in New Jersey's 3rd District, which stretches from the Philadelphia suburbs to central New Jersey's beach towns. The seat was won a year ago by Democrat John Adler. Adler followed Republican Jim Saxton, who retired after more than two decades in office.

LINK: http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d814228bd&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Runyan would be running as a Republican.

[joeybee12]

1. D!

I abbreviate that word when I want to use it, but you all know what I meant.

Oh, not you auggie, Runyan is the D!!!!!

[DaveinMD]

2. he was a dirty player

no wonder he's a Republican.

[NJmaverick]

3. Of course he is a republican

who other than a republican would consider a life of playing games a qualifier to run the nation?

[JonLP24]

4. Bill Bradley? I'll add Kevin Johnson who is a democrat and mayor of Sacremento

:shrug:

Edit/I'm sure he didn't count his basketball career as a qualifier to run for Senate.

[madinmaryland]

5. Bill Bradley ran on the fact of his education including being a Rhodes Scholar.

He just happened to have Basketball experience. Don't forget Tom McMillen, D-Rep of Maryland for a few terms in the 80's and 90's.

[JonLP24]

8. He said a life of playing games

So I added Kevin Johnson. University of California is considered a good school but so is Michigan(Runyan).

[NJmaverick]

10. This Kevin Johnson right?

As president and CEO of The Kevin Johnson Corporation, Johnson oversees the operations of several subsidiary organizations specializing in real estate development and management, sports management, and business acquisition. A key component of The Kevin Johnson Corporation includes appearances and public speaking engagements for corporations, academic institutions, and community organizations. Johnson founded the St. Hope Academy in 1989 and served as its CEO until January 2008. St. HOPE is a nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to revitalize communities through public education, civic leadership, economic development and the arts.

In 2003, St. HOPE formed St. HOPE Public Schools, a pre-K-12 independent charter school system that provides education to nearly 2,000 students in seven small schools.<

Johnson was a 2000 graduate of the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute, a program that prepares students for work in faith-based urban economic revitalization. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA.

[JonLP24]

13. I know about Kevin Johnson

He is my favorite basketball player of all time.

Still spent a big part of his life playing games and became a politician. Not saying Runyan is qualified in other ways but I wanted to point out just because someone happened to play sports as a career can't be a politician or a democrat.

[NJmaverick]

14. What I pointed out was that it takes Republican arrogance to spend a life time

playing games and think that qualifies you to run the Country. On the other hand you took two Democratic politicians that happened to ALSO play games and tried to compare them to Runyan. However as I have more than shown there is no comparison. Both Bradley and Johnson have done more than just play games and those activities is what helped to qualify them.

[JonLP24]

16. I just said they all played games

which they did. Other then that I didn't make any comparisons. I just saw 'consider' life of playing games' and 'run the country' so with nothing in the link to base that on (meaning Runyan actually saying "I played for the Eagles" on a stump speech) I made the conclusion about an athlete wanting to be a politician must be a republican.

You're right, I'm wrong and I'll go hide now.

[NJmaverick]

18. You made the assumption that I had jumped to a conclusion

and your attempts to prove that have gone crashed and burned. Looks like you didn't know the players you quoted nearly as well as you though, especially Bill Bradley.

[JonLP24]

19. .

You said "a republican would consider a life of playing games a qualifier to run the nation?" There is no proof whatsoever Runyan is considering that as a qualification <--- that is an assumption which I'm not going to argue is right or wrong but that there is no proof.

So based that statement with no proof he actually is using "I played for the Eagles" as a reason he is qualified to represent his distract so I took that as a general meaning for an athlete moving to politics and I provided examples of who were democrats.

"Looks like you didn't know the players you quoted nearly as well as you though, especially Bill Bradley."

How can you tell one way or the other just by simply posting politicians who had a playing career? And how can you tell I know more about Kevin Johnson then Bill Bradley simply by posting KJ is my favorite player? That doesn't prove anything.

[NJmaverick]

21. Jon, you keep telling me a guy that has pretty much spent his life playing a game

has some secret or hidden qualifications. I am just not buying into it. You first tried to back up your position by posting two men with careers that far exceeded just playing games. Then instead of producing anything beyond playing football for Ruyan you simple tell me I have no proof. Sorry that's just wrong. Either pony up some facts to support your position, like I did with Bradley and Johnson or admit you jumped the gun and pretty much blew it.

[JonLP24]

23. .

"has some secret or hidden qualifications. "

No I didn't, that's false and you shouldn't buy something I never said.

"You first tried to back up your position by posting two men with careers that far exceeded just playing games. Then instead of producing anything beyond playing football for Ruyan you simple tell me I have no proof. Sorry that's just wrong."

My position was that someone can be an athlete then a politician, nothing else. The proof was that he personally uses his playing career as his qualification to represent his district.(Probably true but the link doesn't say that).

"Either pony up some facts to support your position, like I did with Bradley and Johnson or admit you jumped the gun and pretty much blew it"

It's unclear to you what my position is(which is MY fault) which I was that an athlete can be a politician. I misunderstood(I should have flat out said a long time ago) your first post in this thread and rather then saying that I was explaining how I misunderstood you and my thought process as to why I thought that way and why I responded that way. I suck at explaining things, always have but do my best anyways.

[NJmaverick]

6. Are you talking about Rhodes Scholar Bill Bradley?

the man who spent 6 months in the Air Force Reserve Bill Bradley? Are you referring to the man that worked as an assistant to the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C., and as a teacher in the street academies of Harlem Bill Bradley? Are you talking about the man spent four years of political campaigning for Democratic candidates around New Jersey before running himself Bill Bradley? Are you talking about the man that majored in history at Princeton, and was present in the Senate chamber when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. He spent his time at Oxford focusing on European political and economic history Bill Bradley?

[JonLP24]

7. That's why I added Kevin Johnson

[NJmaverick]

9. Mayor is a bit below Congressman

still you are talking about this man right?

As president and CEO of The Kevin Johnson Corporation, Johnson oversees the operations of several subsidiary organizations specializing in real estate development and management, sports management, and business acquisition. A key component of The Kevin Johnson Corporation includes appearances and public speaking engagements for corporations, academic institutions, and community organizations. Johnson founded the St. Hope Academy in 1989 and served as its CEO until January 2008. St. HOPE is a nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to revitalize communities through public education, civic leadership, economic development and the arts.

In 2003, St. HOPE formed St. HOPE Public Schools, a pre-K-12 independent charter school system that provides education to nearly 2,000 students in seven small schools.<[br />

Johnson was a 2000 graduate of the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute, a program that prepares students for work in faith-based urban economic revitalization. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA.

[JonLP24]

11. I know about Kevin Johnson

He is my favorite basketball player of all time.

You said a life of playing games and I pointed out those who did that are not republicans.

[NJmaverick]

12. What you did was point out players that did far more than just play games

while Runyan has only played games.

[JonLP24]

15. I don't know what Runyan has done outside of football

He's may have done some things or he may have not. However there typically isn't a lot of information when it comes to offensive linemen.

Now right now it's at 'considering' and there is nothing in the link that says Runyan is using his 'playing career' as a 'qualification' so I took your original post as some athlete that thinks he can run must be a republican.

[NJmaverick]

17. The GOP is touting ONLY is "million dollar name"

so I think that my assertion is pretty damn solid. If you can show me where he has done anything as significant as Johnson or Bradley I am all ears.

[JonLP24]

20. .

"If you can show me where he has done anything as significant as Johnson or Bradley I am all ears."

I never said he did anything as significant as Bradley or KJ.

[NJmaverick]

22. so then you admit his main qualification for any job, at this point

is PLAYING GAMES ALL HIS LIFE

[JonLP24]

24. I never said otherwise

except that I don't know.