New York Giants Eli Penny Shares Wisdom Gained from NFL Greats

Giants fullback Eli Penny is no stranger to sharing an offense with elite talent.

In 2020 Penny will look to make his mark in a running back room that includes Saquon Barkley and Dion Lewis. But for Penny, now a four-year NFL veteran, his experience has taught him to expect nothing less.

As an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals, for whom he was with from 2016-18, Penny only spent one full season (2017) on the Cardinals’ active roster.

Penny used that opportunity to prove he belonged in the NFL by playing all 16 games on special teams, and even contributing 124 rushing yards, 38 receiving yards, and two touchdowns on offense.

That year, Penny also got to play alongside running back Adrian Peterson and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, two future Hall-of-Famers, as well as former All-Pro running backs Chris Johnson and David Johnson. All of them imparted their wisdom about life in the NFL upon the impressionable Penny.

Penny said that Fitzgerald consistently brought an upbeat, positive attitude, setting the locker room example that Penny follows as a pro.

As a young veteran in New York, Penny tries to inject the same spirits into the Giants locker room that Fitzgerald did in Arizona.

"When days get hard and when times get hard you know you always got that one guy in your locker room that's always positive," Penny said. "I feel like being that perfect locker room guy can translate onto the field and give everyone that energy that you need."

Meanwhile, in Arizona’s running back room, Peterson, David Johnson, and Chris Johnson gave Penny access to unrivaled veteran knowledge at his position.

"I was blessed to have great veterans in my running back room," Penny said. "Just being that young guy I was kind of always like a sponge, asking a lot of questions to those guys’” Penny said.

Despite not having the same degree of talent and athleticism as his veteran peers, Penny could still apply their experience to his own game as a rotational running back.

In the final five games of 2017, Penny earned regular carries for the Cardinals and even scored the game-winning touchdown in the team’s 26-24 Week 17 victory against the Seattle Seahawks.

But Penny had to earn those rushing opportunities by playing on special teams for all 16 games.

Luckily for Penny, Arizona's running back room even had a successful veteran mentor for that phase of the game as well.

"We had two Hall-of-Famers but then we also had a special teams ace with [running back] Stepfan Taylor," Penny said. "I couldn't ask for more with that."

Penny's rookie year in 2016 was Taylor's last NFL season. Penny spent all of 2016 on the practice squad, but then Taylor's retirement in the offseason opened a special team's opportunity and eventual offensive role.

Although things didn’t work out long-term for Penny in Arizona, he found a home in New York. In 2018, he was signed by the Giants off the Cardinals practice squad to lead block for another generational running back talent in Saquon Barkley.

With the Giants having added Dion Lewis to a room that already includes Barkley, Penny, and Wayne Gallman, Penny sees the Giants group starting to resemble the 2017 Cardinals unit that included Peterson, Chris Johnson, and David Johnson.

"It's almost kind of like the same thing," Penny said. "We have a young talent with Saquon, we have a veteran with Dion in our room and then Wayne Gallman is another explosive runner."

This year, Penny, who views himself as a complete running back with special teams prowess, also wants to be that guy to whom younger teammates can seek knowledge about life in the NFL.

"If any younger guys want any advice or anything, I'm always available just to take people under my wing how I managed to stay in this league for five years after being a tryout guy."

One young player whom Penny has already taken under his wing is a guy who plays a different position: linebacker Tae Crowder, this year’s Mr. Irrelevant.

As the veterans once advised Penny to make the most of every opportunity and keep an open mind toward playing special teams, Penny is now offering that same advice to Crowder.

"When you're a guy that's a late-round pick or even undrafted guy you know you got to make special teams a priority and whatever your main position was," Penny said. "I'm not saying don't focus on that, but make special teams a priority."

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