Warren Sapp is just a big man, with a big mouth on a big stage. He never played a single snap against former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

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WATCH: Warren Sapp apologizes to Michael Strahan for HOF snub

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Strahan's biggest rival was right tackle Jon Runyan, a mountain of a man the Philadelphia Eagles signed as a free agent in 2000 with one goal in mind – stop Michael Strahan.

It didn’t always work. Strahan played 15 career games against Runyan and the Eagles. He had 14.5 career sacks in those contests. He had 8.0 sacks in his first five games.

So no matter the extent of their personal rivalry, nobody knows better how deserving the Hall of Fame honor that Strahan received on Saturday night is more than Runyan.

“Totally deserving,” said Runyan, a Republican congressman from New Jersey. “Surprised people didn’t talk more about him last year. That stuff happens when you talk about the politics.”

The story goes that last year the Hall of Fame selection committee was left to choose between Sapp and Strahan. They went with Sapp, and we’ve heard about it from the loquacious former defensive tackle ever since.

Listen to Sapp and he’s the greatest player to ever step on the field. Strahan, who had 141.5 career sacks, was just another guy.

Runyan doesn’t agree with that assessment, even though he was never especially close with Strahan. In fact, at first there was a mutual dislike, until they chatted poolside at the Pro Bowl in 2003. It was there they developed a mutual respect not only as players, but as people.

Runyan already knew prior to that meeting what he was dealing with as a player. He admitted to having pain from the back of his ear to the bottom of his back for 10 days after each time he faced Strahan. The Giants star had a rare combination of smarts, speed and power. He could dominate as a pass rusher and run-stuffer.

“I used to look at who we were playing after the Giants because, if I have two of those [kind of players] in a row, it was going to be tough,” Runyan said.

Runyan and Strahan were enemies on the field. Strahan talked – and talked a lot – and it irked his most common opponent.

Runyan’s a soft-spoken grinder. It’s created an interesting and mostly one-sided interaction on the field. Off the field, it was different.

“I remember sitting down with him at NFL Films. Michael is one of those type of guys on the field, yeah, he’s going to talk himself up and play for the camera,” Runyan said. “I wasn’t like that but, off the field every conversation I’ve had with him we both realized that is kind of the measuring stick that season of how we were playing.”

Both were quality players. Strahan, obviously, was Hall of Fame-caliber. Runyan was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro during a solid 14-year career.

Over the years, the respect they had for one another grew. BEGIN SOCIAL BOX

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“When we had that opportunity on a personal level [to talk], we realized, for a lack of better terms, we both weren’t totally a**holes and we could carry on a conversation,” Runyan said. “A conversation that didn’t involve throwing each other under the bus.”

Runyan and Strahan have gone in completely different directions following their playing careers. Strahan is a television personality; Runyan a politician. But one thing never changed: Runyan's always respected the greatness of Strahan as a player.

“If you went out and did something silly and got a little out of position, he was able to counter and get around you,” Runyan said. “He did it all well. … [The Hall of Fame] is very deserving.”