SAD ENDING FOR TRUE BLUE QB
No way Eli returns after this mess
ELI MANNING was fighting back tears surely knowing this is the first step in his imminent divorce from the Giants. This is also the first step in the dismantling and massive rebuild that starts as soon as the Giants season ends on New Years’ Eve, which can’t get here soon enough.
There is no turning back with Manning now. He’s done with the Giants.
No way they can bench a two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time Super Bowl MVP to give playing time to Jets washout Geno Smith — seriously? Geno Smith? —and later on in December to rookie Davis Webb and then bring him back in 2018 and kiss and make up and hand him back the keys.
Next to go are general manager Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo. John Mara, who loves Eli and his two Super Bowl titles and how he’s represented the organization with class for 14 seasons, will not allow Manning to be the scapegoat for the Titanic slamming into the iceberg, even considering how poorly he has played this season and his inability to function without Odell Beckham Jr.
It’s sad Manning, one of the great Giants of all time who has reached legendary status with Big Blue Nation, will go out this way and he deserves better, but it rarely ends pretty for franchise QBs and right now Manning is a bigger part of the Giants’ problem than he is part of the solution.
He has not looked like the same player this season. He’s not standing in the pock- et with his eyes downfield anymore. He’s looking out for who’s going to hit him next and that’s Reese’s fault. Eli will be 37 in January and if he wants to keep playing, it certainly will have to be with another team.
Reese was blinded by the 11-5 record last season and sabotaged Manning by coming back with the same five starting offensive linemen when at least three changes needed to be made. McAdoo’s offense has been invisible for 27 games and the team quit on him weeks ago. Mara will lose all credibility if he lets Eli take the fall on his own when the coach and the GM have failed miserably in this 2-9 season that can easily be 2-14 by the time it’s over.
Manning was asked if this was his toughest day as a Giant. “It’s up there,” he said. Has he started his last game as a Giant?
“I don’t know,” he said “I’ll take it one week at a time.”
I actually think McAdoo had the right idea benching Manning and wanting to give another QB a chance, but as usual he screwed up the execution by going first with Smith instead of Webb. One day after the Giants lost to the winless Chargers to drop to 0-5, I said Manning should get five more games to start, enabling him to get to 209 consecutive starts to pass brother Peyton into second place, and then the change should be made to Webb.
Manning was given the option by McAdoo on Monday to start the first half in Oakland on Sunday with Smith playing the second half. He slept on it and reported back to McAdoo on Tuesday and decided to pass on the offer. Essentially, it was all or nothing for Manning. McAdoo chose nothing. Smith will start, with Manning the No. 2 quarterback.
It may have been selfish on Manning’s part, but he earned the right to make the call in a lost season. “My feeling is if you are going to play the other guys, play them,” Manning said. “Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me and it tarnishes the streak.”
It makes no sense to play Smith. We know what he is. He stinks. If the Giants have the chance to take USC’s Sam Darnold or UCLA’s Josh Rosen with what is now the third pick in the draft, the only way they can pass is because they are sold that Webb is the future. Smith is not the future.
Even though McAdoo did not rule out that Manning could be the quarterback next year, it will not likely be his decision. McAdoo will probably be back in Green Bay coaching Aaron Rodgers.
Manning is due to make $10.5 million in salary with a $5 million roster bonus next year, which would be a reasonable contract to attempt to trade. The first team the Giants should call is Denver. John Elway made it to two Super
Bowls, winning one, in four years with Peyton and the Broncos desperately need a QB after Elway whiffed on Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.
It’s usually a rough separation when the end is near for franchise QBs. Phil Simms led the Giants to the playoffs in 1993 and made the Pro Bowl. On a lazy day in June a few months later, Dan Reeves asked him to come up to his office. Simms thought Reeves wanted him to sign a few footballs. Instead, he was told he was being cut. It was a George Young decision. Wellington Mara objected. Reeves objected. Young had final say.
Simms tweeted Tuesday: “Eli Manning can stand tall and proud and will for the rest of his life for all he has been to the Giants — Fans will never forget him. #Giants Pride.”
Do you think Joe Montana wanted to finish his career in Kansas City after winning four Super Bowls in San Francisco? After two years with the Chiefs, he called it quits. When he held his retirement announcement, he did it in downtown San Francisco rather than at 49ers offices.
Back in 2008, Brett Favre retired, then unretired, the Packers had already moved on to Rodgers and they traded Favre to the Jets, the last place he wanted to go. Joe Namath finished with the Rams. Johnny Unitas finished with the Chargers.
Peyton Manning was cut by the Colts after four neck surgeries. He won the Super Bowl in his final game of his career with the Broncos, but he was compromised physically and Denver was not the place he became a Hall of Fame player.
Only Elway, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in his final two years, walked away on his own terms in the place he became a legend. McAdoo was asked if he tarnished Manning’s legacy. “A lot of Hall of Fame quarterbacks who have done a lot for a lot of teams haven’t been able to choose the way they get to move on,” he said. “I’m not saying we’re moving on.” That’s disingenuous. The Giants have moved on.
Eli has had one of the most unusual careers in NFL history. He led two last-minute game-winning drives to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl, the first against an 18-0 team. But in his other 12 seasons, he did not win even one playoff game and made the playoffs only six times in 14 years.
Manning will not be fully appreciated until he is gone, which is happening much earlier than either he or the Giants anticipated.
Big Blue tears all the way around.