Ex-Michigan QB JJ McCarthy Admits “Personal” Grudge He Still Holds Against Ryan Day & Ohio State in NFL Career

JJ McCarthy has a new team, a new opportunity to start in the NFL and, apparently, no plans to retire an old college football grudge. The New York Giants quarterback made that clear after his first start against Houston on Sunday, when he took the field without the thick black eye paint that had become part of his look at Michigan. It was no accident, though.

“Yeah, it is a little corny,” McCarthy said to The Athletic on Tuesday. “Don’t get me wrong, but I’m a corny guy. I took it personal in high school, growing up
an Ohio State fan, like a die-hard Ohio State fan.”

Houston’s QB, C.J. Stroud, played at Ohio State. McCarthy spent his college career at Michigan, where the rivalry with the Buckeyes was never just another game on the schedule.

JJ McCarthy’s story has a twist that makes the ritual more interesting. Before he became Michigan’s starting quarterback, he was an Ohio State fan.

“I had the comforter, had the Fatheads, everything. And (it was) just a little disappointing situation,” McCarthy said. “(So) at the end of the day, that’s just something that I’ll continue against all Buckeyes.”

McCarthy had once considered Ohio State a serious option. But as his recruitment progressed, he felt the Buckeyes had misled him about their plans at quarterback. That left a bad impression, one he has since made little effort to hide.

“I get it’s a business,” McCarthy said. “Coach Day told me he wasn’t going to take (a 2021 quarterback) until the end of summer. But it always suc-s being lied to. And that’s kind of where the rivalry started for me. They lied to my face.”

Ohio State signed Kyle McCord from the same 2021 recruiting class, while McCarthy headed to Michigan. He has brought up the recruitment several times since then.

“I used to love them,” McCarthy said. “Now I want to kill them.”

His comments on Tuesday showed that he still has strong feelings about how Ohio State handled the process.

Ryan Day was Ohio State’s head coach during the recruiting cycle, and McCarthy’s latest comments left open the possibility that he would extend his eye-black tradition to Day if the coach ever moved to the NFL.

“Yeah, it’s strictly just for like C.J., for sure,” McCarthy said about ditching his eye black. “Maybe Kyle McCord… unless Ryan Day comes up to the NFL. But at the end of the day, it’s just a Michigan-Ohio State thing.”

McCarthy often took the field at Michigan wearing eye black, a look that became part of his identity as a quarterback. He called it “war paint” and said applying it helped him get into game mode before kickoff.

JJ McCarthy made a point of going without eye black when Michigan faced Ohio State. He wanted the Buckeyes to get a clear look at his face, with nothing covering it.

It was a personal decision, but one that fit the edge he brought to a rivalry where neither side needs much encouragement to get fired up. McCarthy never lost to Ohio State in his three seasons as Michigan’s starting quarterback.

He threw three touchdown passes in the Wolverines’ 45-23 win in Columbus in 2022. A year later, he completed 16 of 20 attempts for 148 yards and a touchdown as Michigan won 30-24.

Those victories helped Michigan get into the College Football Playoff, and the 2023 team went on to win the national title. The NFL, however, has created an unexpected extension of that contest.

Stroud was not involved in McCarthy’s recruitment, and the two quarterbacks have a friendly relationship. But Stroud attended Ohio State, and that is enough to bring the old rule into play.

“I love C.J., too,” McCarthy said to The Athletic. “He’s my guy, and, you know, wish him nothing but success.”

McCarthy’s decision to skip the eye black might have gone unnoticed if the Giants had lost. Instead, New York beat Houston 27-21 in overtime, with McCarthy completing 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards in his first start for the team.

It was the kind of performance the Giants needed from a quarterback stepping into a bigger role. McCarthy has changed teams and is trying to establish himself in a new offense, but one part of his college identity remains intact.

He will wear the eye black again when the Giants face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, he said, because the Eagles are not Ohio State.

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