Grey Ruegamer is a benchwarmer for the New York Giants, a reserve guard and center, but that doesn’t mean he’s not interesting. Ruegamer, whose uncle Bob Frisbee was on two Gopher Rose Bowl teams, played in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Vikings and later told Sports Headliners about his experiences castrating sheep with his teeth, and also saving toenails and calluses for pranks.
Ruegamer, 34, grew up in Las Vegas and while a college student a family friend with a sheep ranch needed help castrating lambs. Make that castration in the Basque tradition of performing the procedure with one’s teeth.
Ruegamer said “obviously it’s not something you dream about doing in grade school as a profession” but his comfort level was enhanced because he was around animals as a youngster. His father was a large and small animal veterinary, plus Ruegamer has rodeo experience. “It (castrating sheep) wasn’t a shocker but seeing it done that way was a little bit of a shock,” he said.
Outgoing and friendly, Ruegamer has a deserved reputation as a prankster. He was asked about his habit of collecting toenails. “Well, you know that’s just a locker room secret,” he said. “There’s toenails and calluses collected over the course of the off- season and season. A lucky person at the end of the year gets it…”
The recipient might, for example, find a wallet sprinkled with toenails and calluses, courtesy of Ruegamer. Imagine the lucky fellow’s surprise when going into the wallet to make a purchase and finding the goodies.
Ruegamer, who attended Arizona State and played in a Rose Bowl like Frisbee, has been with five NFL teams since coming into the league in 1999. He won Super Bowl rings with New England and the Giants. He said his uncle is a lawyer living in Phoenix.