National Football League

Justin Pugh: I'm back with the Giants because of Jerry Seinfeld

Updated Oct. 18, 2023 11:47 p.m. ET

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The New York Giants have struggled to protect quarterback Daniel Jones — who's dealing with a neck injury that sidelined him last week — and have been ravaged by injuries on the offensive line, which is presumably why they reunited with veteran Justin Pugh.

All that said, it appears there was a much different reason why Pugh signed with New York's practice squad earlier this month.

"Honestly, this is all Jerry Seinfeld's fault. I was at a restaurant, Torrisi, in New York like four months ago over the summer, and my wife and I are sitting there with some friends, and like across from us is Jerry Seinfeld. And I hear his voice, and it was the most quintessential New York moment of all time. I remember texting my agent like, ‘text the Giants. I want to come back,'" Pugh told the New York press Wednesday. "So really if it wasn't for Jerry Seinfeld, I don't know if I'd be here right now. And he's the greatest; he's the GOAT. 

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"From that point forward, I knew I wanted to come back here. Everything worked out perfectly. They played in Arizona. They stayed there for a week. I came and worked out 10 minutes from my house. They called me right after that. I fly in here. It was meant to be."

Pugh was elevated to New York's active roster for its grueling Week 6 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. He infused laughter into the football world by saying he came "straight off the couch" for his player introduction. After starting the game at left guard, Pugh bounced out to left tackle in the first quarter when Joshua Ezeudu suffered a toe injury.

"I thought he did some good things," Giants head coach Brian Daboll told the team's official website Wednesday. "Again, he hasn't played tackle in a while. We talked about it like I said before, but we'll give him obviously some reps out there and make sure we get him ready to go."

Seinfeld, who was born in New York City, was the star of the hit sitcom "Seinfeld," which was set in New York City. Now, who was with Jerry at dinner across from Pugh and friends that night? George is the easy answer, but what if he was actually mending fences over dinner with Newman? Just kidding. While it's not known who was with Seinfeld that night, the Giants owe him one for helping get Pugh off the couch.

The Giants selected Pugh with the No. 19 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Syracuse. He played right tackle and left guard across his five seasons in New York (2013-17) before signing with the Arizona Cardinals after the 2017 season; Pugh spent the next five seasons (2018-22) in Arizona.

Pugh could potentially start at left tackle for the Giants in their Week 7 matchup against the Washington Commanders with Ezeudu being placed on injured reserve and starter Andrew Thomas likely missing a sixth consecutive game due to a hamstring injury. 

To boot, New York is averaging just 265.5 total yards (31st in NFL) and 11.8 points (last) per game and hasn't scored an offensive touchdown since Week 3.

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