Raiders Q&A: Getting to know Jermaine Eluemunor

He was born in Chalk Farm, a small urban district of northwest London, where he grew up playing rugby and cricket.

Jermaine Eluemunor then moved to the United States at age 14, where he began playing American football.

He obviously found his calling.

The Raiders offensive tackle — all 6 feet, 4 inches and 330 pounds of him — is a seven-year NFL veteran after originally being drafted by the Ravens in 2017.

The Review-Journal sat down with Eluemunor to learn more about him.

RJ: Name the best thing about London, and you can’t say the food.

Eluemunor: The weather. I love the rain. I love it more than anything. I don’t like Seattle rain. That’s depressing rain. England rain is a vibrant, happy rain.

RJ: You put up a poll asking which was more real: aliens or mermaids. Which side do you fall on, and why?

Eluemunor: Aliens. I think, technically, a mermaid is an alien. But it would be pretty cool to see how aliens look and what they do. They probably have such crazy technology, so it would be interesting to see. I feel like mermaids would just see you, try to get you in the water and drown you.

RJ: Where did your love of anime come from?

Eluemunor: My second year in Baltimore, one of my good friends came over to my apartment to do his laundry. He was like, “Bro, I’ve got this show you should watch. It’s anime.” And he showed me some of these big monster Titans that eat people. It sounds crazy. That did it for me. I have a top five, but if I had to choose a favorite (show), it would be “One Piece.” It’s about pirates. It sounds childish, but it’s very adultlike.

RJ: Why Whataburger over In-N-Out?

Eluemunor: You know what? I used to say Whataburger. But then I went to In-N-Out after we beat the Patriots, and I got a triple-triple with red onions, and it was life changing. I’ve had the soggy In-N-Out when we did Fat Fridays here, and it wasn’t fresh. But then I got the fresh stuff and now it’s In-N-Out.

RJ: We saw you wrestling a bit in the locker room. Who on the team would give you the toughest match?

Eluemunor: Probably no one. Maybe Maxx (Crosby) because Maxx is unhinged, and I don’t know what he would pull off. If it’s a straight wrestling match, I’m whipping everyone. If it’s MMA, it’s a different story. But wrestling-wise, I got the run of the locker room. I’m whipping all the (offensive linemen), one by one.

RJ: Your favorite Premier League team is Arsenal. Why, and how many jerseys do you have?

Eluemunor: I have like 50 jerseys. Honestly, I don’t even know why Arsenal. My little brother is a Manchester United fan, my dad has always supported Liverpool and my mom grew up being a Tottenham fan. Arsenal was the first team I saw, and they had legends, so I just kind of saw that and it got me hooked. I get the jersey that comes out every year. I wore one to the game (against the Giants last Sunday) and got made fun of for it, so I might not be wearing one to the field again.

RJ: Do you have a favorite MMA fighter?

Eluemunor: I have a couple. Cody Garbrandt is actually a good friend of mine. He’s an animal. I like Alex Pereira. Kamaru Usman is up there as well.

RJ: What do you think about the crossover of MMA and boxing and what Jake Paul has been doing with it?

Eluemunor: I think it’s cool. Really good for combat like that. I think it will bring more attention to the sport and help it grow even more.

RJ: Have you trained in MMA?

Eluemunor: I’ve done some kickboxing, I wrestled in high school, I do Muay Thai in the offseason. I want to get into jiu-jitsu. But you can get banged up pretty easily, and I don’t want to jeopardize my football, so I’ll probably wait until I retire to do that.

RJ: You have a daughter due in January. What are you looking forward to most with fatherhood?

Eluemunor: Just to hold my baby, honestly. I’ve always wanted to be a dad. There’s three things I’ve wanted to do in life: play football, help others and be a dad. I’m playing football, I’m helping others and being a dad is the main thing. I’m super excited.

Contact sports columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.