EAST RUTHERFORD — They were forged in the same competitive college football fire, emerging from the deep talent pool at Ohio State to make it all the way into the first round of the NFL Draft. Eli Apple and Darron Lee will always be connected for being part of the Buckeyes’ historic 2016 draft, two of the five Ohio State players taken in the first round. They will forever be bound by their history, but their future will be tied together as well. In getting drafted by two professional teams in the same city — Apple 10th overall by the Giants and Lee 20th overall by the Jets — they will take their first step into a rivalry that may not always find regularity on the field, but certainly lives in the hearts and minds of partisan area fans. Tonight, when Apple and Lee walk onto a field they now both call home and face each other in the crucial third game of the NFL preseason, they will take unfamiliar paths to opposite sidelines of MetLife Stadium. Still friends, yes. But the former teammates are now rivals, too. “I’m looking forward to seeing him out there,” Apple said this week…
Continue Reading: Sullivan: College teammates about to become NFL rivals
