Giants Lineman Found Gerard Butler at the World Cup and Pulled Off His Shirt

New York Giants offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor ran into actor Gerard Butler at the England vs Panama World Cup match last week. And he did exactly what any reasonable person would do when they meet the guy who played King Leonidas.

He took his shirt off.

Eluemunor has a massive 300-inspired tattoo covering most of his torso. So when he spotted Butler in the stands, he walked over, pulled up his jersey, and showed it off. Butler grinned. Eluemunor grinned. Someone nearby caught the whole thing on video.

Butler starred as the Spartan king in Zack Snyder’s 2006 film 300, which grossed over $450 million worldwide. The movie turned Butler into an action icon and gave gym bros everywhere a perfectly good excuse to scream ‘This is Sparta’ at random moments. Eluemunor apparently took the aesthetic commitment a step further.

The Giants re-signed Eluemunor this offseason to a three-year, $39 million deal. That’s a solid payday for a 31-year-old offensive lineman who took a long, weird road to get here.

From journeyman to a home in New York

Eluemunor was drafted in the fifth round out of Texas A&M back in 2017. The Ravens picked him. Then they traded him to the Patriots a couple years later. That started a stretch where he bounced around like a guy who forgot his apartment key card.

He signed with the Dolphins in 2020. They cut him a couple months later. He signed with the Jaguars. They cut him days later. It was not a stable period.

But he landed in Las Vegas in 2021 and started all 17 games in 2022. That got him another contract with the Raiders. Then he joined the Giants in 2024 on a two-year deal, and clearly they liked what they saw. New York locked him up again this spring, keeping a 31-year-old who’s started 25 games over the past two seasons.

His NFL career almost didn’t happen. He’s said in interviews that he nearly quit football in college after a coaching change at Texas A&M. Instead he stuck with it, got drafted, and now he’s meeting movie stars at the World Cup and showing them his ink like it’s no big deal.

Maybe they’ll work together on something someday. Or maybe Eluemunor will just keep showing up at international soccer matches shirtless. Either way, it worked out better than the Jaguars experiment.