Written for all the Eli Manning Haters

[Cold Buc Fan]

Remember football is a business, whether it is a team that won't over pay like The Patriots or the New Bucs, or you are a singled out player like a Lynch, Sapp, or even Keyshawn. Everyone is out to cover their wallets including the players. This is a good read!

by Dan Pompei

Don't blame Manning for trying to steer his career

April 26, 2004


Judging from the reaction from front offices, Madison Square Garden and cyberspace, it seemed as if Eli Manning had been given the lead role in the NFL's version of The Passion. Verbally, he was scourged, beaten, flogged and crucified.

His crime was letting the Chargers know he didn't want to play for them. Rookies are supposed to shut up, pick up their teammates' shoulder pads and show up on the bus with smiles on their faces. They are supposed to be passengers, not drivers, in the journey to their own destiny.

Speak up and you are a whiner. A politicker. An elitist. A weasel. You think you are bigger than the league. You act like you are a member of the NFL's version of the Kennedy family. You have a meddling father and a money-grubbing brother. You probably club baby seals for kicks. Oh, and you suck! You suck! You suck!

Go ahead and boo Manning if it makes you feel bigger. But don't blame him for trying to have a say in how his career unfolds.

Was this about wanting to avoid permanent scarring? No quarterback wants to be beaten silly behind an inadequate offensive line. The Chargers have only one offensive lineman returning who started more than half of the 2003 season, guard Phil Bogle, and he was an undrafted free agent. What's more, they had begun to try to trade incumbent quarterback Drew Brees with the thought that Manning could be the starter from the beginning.

Manning's father, Archie, played 11 years with the Saints without experiencing a winning season and he, like every father, wanted better for his son. Big jerk, right?

Was this about wanting to be noticed by the people who bring Gatorade and Snickers to our television screens and highway billboards? Every player wants to maximize his marketing ability. And Manning had his brother, Peyton, to warn him about the disadvantages of playing in a small-market town.

This was about more than self-preservation and self-promotion. If you don't think that a quarterback's success can be influenced by the organization that chooses him, the coaching staff he plays for, the offensive system he's asked to execute and the players around him, you haven't been paying close attention to the NFL.

Eli Manning thinks his opportunity to succeed is better with the Giants than it would have been with the Chargers. You could debate the wisdom of that. The turnover rate of front office men, coaches and players is so high in the NFL that the Chargers might look like a more solid organization than the Giants four years from now -- heck, maybe four paragraphs from now.

But Manning looked at the Chargers and saw four winning records in the last 21 seasons. He looked at the organization and saw a franchise that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in revenue. He looked at the city and saw a bad stadium deal and an eroding fan base. He looked at the front office and coaching staff and saw key decision makers in tenuous situations. He looked at the tape and saw arguably the least talented team in the NFL. He looked at the history -- a legendary passing game with Dan Fouts, whiffing on Ryan Leaf, passing over Michael Vick -- and saw expectations that would be almost impossible to fulfill.

Why should an elite NFL prospect be resented for acting like any other businessman? Millions of dollars, a career and even a legacy are at stake. The oddity is that more young athletes don't try to steer their careers. The collective bargaining agreement allows teams the right to select whomever they wish, but it also allows players the right to sit out a year and re-enter the draft. Manning would not have been breaking any rules by taking the year off; he would have been exercising a right.

It wasn't like Manning signed a contract to play for a team and then said he wanted out, as a number of veterans have done this offseason. Running back Corey Dillon and offensive lineman John Welbourn orchestrated trades. Receiver Terrell Owens refused to accept it when he was traded to the Ravens. Cornerbacks Ty Law and Mike McKenzie have made it clear they want new teams. None of them has been vilified like Manning. Rookies, it seems, are held to a different standard.

Unlike many of the aforementioned veterans who stated their cases to the media, Manning did not say anything publicly about his desire not to play for San Diego. Knowing it could result in image issues, he preferred to keep it a private matter between him and the Chargers.

Neither the Chargers nor the Giants helped the kid save face. The Chargers let the world know Manning thought he was above them. The Giants didn't come through with their best trade offer until nearly 45 minutes after Manning had been picked by the Chargers. The process left Manning holding a Chargers jersey and looking uncomfortable while a thousand cameras flashed in his face.

The Mannings understandably were concerned that Madison Square Garden might have been the wrong place to be. But in their hearts, they knew Eli belonged in New York.

Senior writer Dan Pompei covers the NFL for Sporting News. Email him at pompei@sportingnews.com.



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you can argue either way. I understand where the Manning family was coming from but at the same time I just beleive that a player like that should be happy that they are even in the draft. Id take his place as Chargers QB if they really wanted me to, I wouldnt be good but id just change my name to Ryan Leaf.....oh wait....too late

It's all about a rookie. A player that has never taken a snap in the NFL. Dictating where he wants to go. That is what is not right.
Oh, I don't want to play for SD. Their team is crappy and I might not be like my brother. boo-hoo.
For the giants he had better wear earplugs. The Big Apple will eat up the ole southern boy.
good luck to you eli...you will need it.
The giants will not have a much better record this year than the chargers. Remember both teams were 4-12 last year. And the offensive line in NY is beyond terrible, too.

[Cold Buc Fan]

Originally posted by GG-BucsBacker
It's all about a rookie. A player that has never taken a snap in the NFL. Dictating where he wants to go. That is what is not right.
Oh, I don't want to play for SD. Their team is crappy and I might not be like my brother. boo-hoo.
For the giants he had better wear earplugs. The Big Apple will eat up the ole southern boy.
good luck to you eli...you will need it.
The giants will not have a much better record this year than the chargers. Remember both teams were 4-12 last year. And the offensive line in NY is beyond terrible, too.

I would say that Manning is justified on his father's manuvers based upon your closing credo alone. He would have been stupid and life would have been tougher on all accounts.

If he was really confident in his own abilities, he'd look at it almost like a challenge and look forward to trying to turn a franchise like that around.

id say let him get a real job for real pay and see if he still rather not play for the chargers and all the big bus they would have given him to play

but im glad it worked out for the chargers, they got just as good a QB in rivers IMO and all the extra picks in the draft to boot

GO PANTHERS !!!!!!

I hope he'll be a bust..(which he won't be)

[4821bucs]

I don't care who says what about this little whiner ***. To be selected as the first player in the first round to a professional NFL team should be more than enough to make anyone happy. Look at Clayton's face. He went at #15. I think Eli has some maturity issues he needs to work through. It has no bearing on wheteher he will be good or not, he's just a rude, ungrateful, self centered little biatch. I hope he follows his big bro and gets a busted jaw.

[DKWEST]

The thing is,...The Giants Offensive line is not very good either,...Kerry Collins went from a Hero the year before to running for his life all of last year and took too much of the blame for the Giants demise in 2003.
Plus the NY media will be all over Manning, where San Diego is much more laid back of a city.

I think players should go where they are picked and be happy about it. I Coach little league sports and it always irritates me when parents try to circumvent the process to allot players evenly to try and be on what they perceive as a good team.

I think poppa Manning was not as good as he thought he was, and didn't have the right stuff to lead The Saints from the doldrums, so now he is blaming his ineptness on the Saints by saying his position in the draft ruined his carreer by getting picked where he did.

Get used to hearing this,..."Eli back to pass,...he is flushed from the pocket,...under heavy rush,...he throws it away,...interception". "Heavy Boos from the NY faithfull"

I dont care about sports writers opinions. The fact is mannings reason for not wanting to go to SD was very stupid. If he does not like marty, then he definitely wont like tom. There offensive lines are about the same. and there records were the same. very stupid reasons.

[Everlastingxxx]

America...land of the free, you wouldnt think so with all these negative posts about manning. I hope he does well, Giants are much better than people think. San Diego is pathetic.

Originally posted by 4821bucs
I don't care who says what about this little whiner ***. To be selected as the first player in the first round to a professional NFL team should be more than enough to make anyone happy. Look at Clayton's face. He went at #15. I think Eli has some maturity issues he needs to work through. It has no bearing on wheteher he will be good or not, he's just a rude, ungrateful, self centered little biatch. I hope he follows his big bro and gets a busted jaw.

Sounds like your the whiny little *****. I agree with the article, He was the #1 Draft pick and he had the power to pick his own career path. I wouldn't want to play for the chargers. They can't seem top hold on to any decent talent, plus Manning will have a outstanding career with the right team. The Chargers are not that team. Let's just see what happnes to Rivers this season. The Chargers will think of him as a quick fix to thier team and throw him to the wolves. I hold them personally responsible for the demise of Leaf. If he were allowed to slowly mature into the league like other quarterbacks, could of been a premier QB today. I predict the same thing will happen to Rivers.

[4821bucs]

Originally posted by MIGHTYBUCSFAN64
Sounds like your the whiny little *****. I agree with the article, He was the #1 Draft pick and he had the power to pick his own career path. I wouldn't want to play for the chargers. They can't seem top hold on to any decent talent, plus Manning will have a outstanding career with the right team. The Chargers are not that team. Let's just see what happnes to Rivers this season. The Chargers will think of him as a quick fix to thier team and throw him to the wolves. I hold them personally responsible for the demise of Leaf. If he were allowed to slowly mature into the league like other quarterbacks, could of been a premier QB today. I predict the same thing will happen to Rivers.

I have zero respect for Eli. Why? He was afforded an opportunity to play for the Chargers, and he played Mr Destiny with it. If he didn't want to be on the Chargers, he should have still accepted it like a man and proved himself to be the all star everyone hopes he will be. Instead, he chose to complain about the team he went to and is happy with a team that is actually just a tad better. Would he not make millions of dollars with either team? Would he not be able to excel no matter where he is? I just cannot understand why a player would complain when all they want to do is play football to begin with. Brad Johnson has played for some crap teams and never really gotten the respect he deserves. Does that make him a poor business man? Of course not. I think it was classless and immature what Eli did, no matter who says what. End of story.

[seminolefan74]

Who cares about Eli?

[Cold Buc Fan]

It is a privledge to play in the NFL. But if you hold the cards , you hold the cards.

[seminolefan74]

I've got the Jack of Clubs

[CaptainDave]

All I know is he passed up getting to play with arguably the best RB in the game right now. But, the Chargers got the better end of the deal anyways.

[Java_Thief]

Originally posted by CaptainDave
All I know is he passed up getting to play with arguably the best RB in the game right now. But, the Chargers got the better end of the deal anyways.

there's always the possiblity that LT could end up being in the same situation that Barry Sanders was put into (and i'm not comparing LT to barry, so don't even bring that up). Right now the chargers aren't so good, and their offensive line is not about the same as the giants, the giants lost almost no one between their playoff season in 2002 to 2003, injuries hurt them just like us.

Eli was smart in not going to San Diego. Schottenheimer is arguably the worst coach that could ever happen to a QB, his coaching led to Montana not throwing for 3k yards in two seasons with the Chiefs.

The wideouts on the Chargers are Tim Dwight, Reche Caldwell, and some other guy with and 8- on his jersey. Not exactly a stellar receiving corp.

Quite frankly the Chargers should never have been in position to draft Eli, they should have traded down and picked up shawn andrews and a wide out, but thats just me.

[RedTideBucs]

He thinks he is above the game, I recall a certain Bo Jackson doing this to us. Karma is a ***** Eli, be careful what you wish for.

[BucnChuckieFan]

Everybody needs to understand that Eli is a passing quarterback. Schottenheimer favors a run-oriented offense. Drafting Eli would have been a really bad fit and huge waste of talent. Rivers is the perfect choice for the Chargers and they should have set their sights on him in the first place. I might be giving them too much credit for having brain cells here, but it's possible they had the whole draft Eli and trade for Rivers thing planned!

The problem in San Diego is that they have an egocentric Owner who wants to own an NFL team but doesn't want to unzip his pockets far enough to make it a good team (THANK GOD WE HAVE THE GLAZERS), and a GM who obviously doesn't understand the game of football and is too puffed up over himself to admit it! Yes, they drafted LT which was a good move at the time. But have they built a team around him? Heck no! The pockets are zipped and LT is surrounded with has-beens and nobodys. I feel sorry for him.

The combination of this owner, GM and head coach is what holds the Chargers back, and I don't blame Eli one bit for extricating himself from that situation. Why would anyone want to draft a player who's a great passing quarterback for a team that's run-oriented? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And exactly what you'd expect from the Chargers.

It's all about being a rookie and basically ruling the draft. Just shut up and play the game! That's what I say. NO MATTER WHERE these guys go to play they're going to be making MILLIONS more than what most of the country would ever see in their lifetimes! So, IMO, JUST SHUT THE *bad word* UP AND PLAY!

p.s. I hope whoever plays the Giants this year sends blind-side blitzes all game long and just manhandles Manning. I'm not saying I hope he gets injured, I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. But I hope he gets knocked around enough to rattle him up a bit.

you notice he did not even want put on the chargers hat.

[bigred28]

Eli seems a bit arrogant. Ben Roethlisberger was trying to make nice at the draft and Manning totally snubbed him. Usually the ****y QBs are the ones that catch heat the hardest....

This is stupid. If you really think about it, the idea of the draft should probably be illegal (as a fan of the league, I'm glad it isn't, because there isn't a better and more exciting device to achieve parity, but I feel that if the NFL were less powerful and the draft was challenged in court, they would likely lose--it's a double-standard, I know). A tradesman has the right to apply to ply his trade with the organization that he or she chooses to--this is a group of 32 organizations that have essentially colluded and agreed upon a system wherein an organization, regardless of the tradesman's preference, gets exclusive rights to negotiate with the tradesman for an entire year. About the only time that you're able to apply to work at the organization of your choosing in the NFL is when you're a FA. Is Manning lucky to be in the NFL at all? Of course he is. But I'm not going to villify him for wanting the best league experience possible.

Originally posted by uraccub
I dont care about sports writers opinions. The fact is mannings reason for not wanting to go to SD was very stupid. If he does not like marty, then he definitely wont like tom. There offensive lines are about the same. and there records were the same. very stupid reasons.

Yes, but the NYG O is built more for a passing attack at present. SD has few viable targets, though Tomlinson would take some pressure off of Eli. It'll be hard on Eli his rookie year, but this affords him the chance to shine. And, of course, the size difference between the two markets is substantial. If you're going to criticize a person's reasons for an action, you should be sure to list them all. Unless you want to just step up and admit that you don't want to like something, rationality be damned.

Maybe the Mannings are hoping for an Eli vs. Peyton Super Bowl one day.

[DragnSlayrF31]

Originally posted by seminolefan74
Who cares about Eli?

That's what I was thinking. But what do I know? I have Bucs vision. If he isn't here then I don't spend too much time worrying about it - well except for recent departures.

Originally posted by Everlastingxxx
America...land of the free, you wouldnt think so with all these negative posts about manning. I hope he does well, Giants are much better than people think. San Diego is pathetic.

What the heck are you talking about?

America...land of the free Very true, if Manning didn't want to go to the Chargers, he was free to not play football. This was a Voluntary draft.

Giants are much better than people think? Record and preformance is all that matters, not perception.


Think before you post.

[McSiD]

He did it but at least he has proven he can play in the NFL and most people still think he was an a** for doing it. So what gives a rookie the right.

[thistownwilleat]

What killed me were all the commentators talking about what a classy guy and a "superbly mature young man of tomorrow" (you should be shot Chris Berman) he was. It reminded me of Vick's first game back after his injury...mute button.