ELI CALLS HIS SUCCESSOR
THE unexpected call came in to Davis Webb early Saturday, and it speaks volumes about the man making it.
It was Eli Manning, The Post learned, welcoming the rookie quarterback who one day could be his successor.
Matt Webb, the father of the Giants’ third-round pick, was at a track meet at Centennial High, where he is athletic coordinator and football coach, when he received this text: “Hey Dad, call me.” Dad called him. “I got to speak with Eli this morning,” an excited Davis told his father.
“He was pretty happy that he had taken the time out from his schedule to say, ‘Hey man, welcome to the team and look forward to getting to meet you,’ ” Matt Webb said.
“To have someone that you’ve watched on TV, and you followed their career and they reach out to you and be one of the first people to welcome you into the organization, yeah he was ecstatic.
“He didn’t really go into the details, but as you can imagine, what is Davis? [A] 22-year-old kid, just got picked, and one of the guys that I think’s destined to be a Hall of Fame quarterback takes the time out to reach out, that says a lot about Eli and the kind of person he is. “He was fired up.” Often it isn’t when you are picked but where you wind up.
Manning will be a godsend, helping Davis Webb make the difficult transition from spread quarterback to NFL pocket passer.
“Having a guy in your corner, that’s worth millions right there,” Matt Webb said. “Whether you’re first round, third round or seventh round, the people that are going to help you develop is going to determine how successful you are far more than what round you’re drafted in.
“To be able to sit in a room with the Giants coaching staff and Eli and see how they prepare and how they interract with their teammates and how they handle the ups and downs of professional football — it’s like getting a master’s degree from Harvard.”
Davis Webb wasn’t the first overall pick of the NFL draft, doesn’t have a famous father or famous older brother who played in the league. Manning waited nine games behind Kurt Warner before Tom Coughlin handed him the keys to the Big Blue kingdom. It will most likely be no less than two years before Ben McAdoo, Coughlin’s successor, tabs Davis as Manning’s successor.
McAdoo mentioned the chip on Davis Webb’s shoulder, and the father talked about everything he’s gone through in his football life. From being a ballboy in fifth and sixth grade, starting football in seventh grade to losing his job at Texas Tech to Pat Mahomes and transferring to Cal.
“He tore his labrum against Oklahoma State, and I got a text the next day from the MRI from Davis: ‘Torn labrum. Playing next week,’ ” Matt Webb said. “He ended up fracturing his ankle probably three weeks later, so Pat Mahomes came in and took over.
“I think part of his drive comes from what he’s dealt with in his football career, being a starter, being the big man on campus, being captain, to all of a sudden you’re not that anymore. But it never dampened his enthusiasm for his team or his drive.”
Matt Webb wasn’t a quarterback legend at Ole Miss. He has been a Texas high school football, baseball and track coach and coached his towering, big-armed son at Prosper High School
“I think I admire his tenacity,” Matt Webb said. “He’s not always the No. 1 pick, or he’s not always the guy with the highest profile, but he’s very determined to put himself in the conversation and give himself a chance to compete. I think he’s a great teammate. I think the team’s success is more important than individual success to him. I think he’s a great worker. I think he still realizes there’s a world outside of football, but man, when it’s football time, there’s nothing that disrupts him.”
His son has a legendary football obsession, the type of gym rat and film junkie that will challenge Manning as first to arrive and last to leave.
“I think Davis is gonna maximize his potential as he goes along,” Matt Webb said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and Davis knows that. I think the thing that Giants fans and I think one of the things that attracted him to the organization is that he’s willing to put in that work to maximize his potential, whether it’s to be the starting quarterback of the Giants or go on to an All-Pro career or wherever it takes him, he’s gonna do what he can to maximize that potential and I think that’s the kind of players that organizations are looking for. But I don’t think you can ... say, ‘This kid’s gonna be an All-Pro, 10-year career, win two Super Bowls.’ There’s way too many factors outside of that.”
The New York market, and how you handle it, is one of those factors.
“He’s gonna handle it by learning and watch how Eli Manning handles it,” Matt Webb said.
The Jets had shown more interest in his son than the Giants. “When the area code showed up, I’m not so sure that that wasn’t his first thought,” Matt Webb said, and chuckled. “But I’m gonna tell you what — he could not have been more happy who it was on the other end of the phone when it came through.” Unless, of course, it was Eli Manning.