RESPECT: Cullen Jenkins said he is glad to play with one-time rival Chris Snee. (Getty Images)
Such is the way it goes in a business where the collective often dominates the individual, where the battle up front can be a faceless series of collisions, violent, brutal and largely anonymous.
Cullen Jenkins and Chris Snee had put their hands on the ground and slammed into each other since 2004, first when Jenkins toiled at defensive tackle for the Packers, the past two years when Jenkins played for the despised Eagles. It was Jenkins’ every intention to dispose of Snee and put Eli Manning on his back, preferably in painful fashion. As a protector, it was Snee’s job to prevent this from happening, to keep Manning as clean as possible despite the bad intentions of a 300-pound bull rushing at him.
This punishing dance played out repeatedly the past two years as Jenkins and Snee knocked heads in four games, launching at one another hundreds of times, facemask to facemask. Yet despite this supposed familiarity, when Jenkins not long ago laid eyes on Snee at the Giants’ facility he wasn’t quite sure who he was.
“This was the first time I had ever really seen him without his helmet on,’’ Jenkins said yesterday. “I didn’t know for sure who he was because he wasn’t in uniform.’’
Snee smiled upon hearing this.
“I knew who he was,’’ Snee said. “If you think about, I’ve never see him off the field. Usually when you shake hands I leave my helmet on. The first thing I told him was I’m tired of going against him and we’d love to have him here.’’
Free agency can bring together disparate factions. The only battles remaining between Snee and Jenkins will be friendly fire, played out this summer at training camp. The Giants with great haste targeted Jenkins after he was released by the Eagles and quickly signed him to a three-year, $8 million contract. It was a signing hailed by Snee and his mates on the offensive line.
“When he got released it took about a minute before [left guard Kevin] Boothe and I texted each other and said we should bring him in here,’’ Snee said. “I can vouch for how good he is.’’
It is not a stretch to suggest Jenkins is the most important newcomer brought in by the Giants, who in 2012 experienced an embarrassing defensive meltdown. Jenkins, 32, unquestionably can provide pass-rush pressure — he had 9 1/2 sacks the past two years for the Eagles — but the priority up front is to plug the holes that ruptured against the run.
Jenkins, 32, was sentfter seven seasons with the Packers, was part of a gaudy 2011 free-agent class that had the Eagles dubbing themselves the Dream Team. packing after a nightmare two seasons, with the Eagles going 12-20 the past two years.
“To say that it doesn’t make you feel like you have something to prove, you’d be lying,’’ said Jenkins, the younger brother of former Jets defensive tackle Kris Jenkins. “From a skill-set standpoint I feel like they missed out on something they could have had, a great player. Unfortunately for them I’m with a team that’s their rival.’’
Snee could swim through the bad blood to view Jenkins as a top competitor, with no personal animosity involved.
“We played hard but we always kept it clean,’’ Snee said. “We’ve had good battles. He never was considered a dirty player and neither was I. Sure maybe there was a push after but nothing that carried on. At the end of the day we both had respect for each other and played that way.’’
Jenkins had 1 1/2 sacks of Manning in four games with the Eagles but says you have to “watch your back’’ going up against the Giants offensive line. “I’m pretty happy to be here and not have to go against [Snee] twice a year, not just him, [David] Baas, [Dave] Diehl, all those guys because it’s a group effort with them,’’ Jenkins said. “I’m pretty happy to be on the same team as them now.’’
Here to play, Jenkins during this minicamp is lining up alongside Linval Joseph as a starting defensive tackle. He was given Chris Canty’s No. 99 and occupies Canty’s corner locker, which is fitting, as Jenkins has replaced Canty, who was released and signed with the Super Bowl-champion Ravens.
“It’s my responsibility to go out there and show they made the right choice,’’ said Jenkins, who already has one true believer in Chris Snee.