IT’S ELI APPRECIATION DAY

Expect Big Blue fans to show their love for Eli

ELI MANNING gets himself a day, a warm, sweet tribute day when he gets to bathe in a Big Blue ocean of unconditional love, 10 jerseys everywhere you turn, choruses of “E-LI or “E-LI MANN-ING” reverberating through MetLife Stadium and into the proud ears of father Archie, a day of cheers for a franchise icon and maybe tears from the franchise icon himself at the beginning of what may very well be his heartbreaking farewell tour as a New York Giant.

He gets the kind of day Sunday against the Cowboys that too many champions get long after they are retired, when Blue York tells him with all its heart that they have loved him being their quarterback as much as he has loved being their quarterback from the time he was 222 years old, even if they didn’t always show it.

He gets this kind of day largely because he was wronged when he lost his job and his 210-game consecutive streak, because it has dawned on Blue York finally that it won’t soon see the likes of an Eli Manning again, that his fate as a 37-year-old quarterback will now be in the hands of a new general manager and new head coach, who will be drafting what they only can hope and pray will be the next Eli Manning.

He was SuperMann twice against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and even though he is no longer SuperMann, he has somehow remained everyone’s EveryMann.

He isn’t only the greatest quarterback in Giants history, he is one of the best people to ever walk through the Big Blue door.

We have watched him grow from Peyton’s Little Brother into a proud husband and

father of three daughters and the pride of the Giants.

It will kill John Mara if Manning has to finish his Hall of Fame career somewhere else, and it will kill Manning as well.

“The only reason a Giant fan will not wear a 10 jersey,” Justin Tuck told The Post, “is if they don’t have one. I would think most of ’em have a 10 jersey.”

It isn’t only the men who have played with Manning and coached him who revere him, it is the rest of the people in the building who have borne witness to his relentless pursuit of a championship and commitment to his craft. And more than anything, to how much he has loved being the Giants quarterback.

Equipment/locker room manager Ed Wagner: “I think in a city that’s so crazy, he is so down-to-earth that people embrace him, and they just love him for that type of attitude that he has. That nothing bothers him, like a real New Yorker, nothing gets under his skin, and he’s always in control.”

“Giants Today” producer Joe Scacciaferro: “I was literally there the day he was drafted when he came in, ’ cause he came straight from the city, came straight into the studio, and that aw-shucks guy is still the aw-shucks guy today.

“Every morning when I come in, the cafeteria’s empty. Eli’s sitting by himself, with a bowl of cereal, watching television. It’s Monday morning, regardless of what happened on Sunday — I’ve been with him Super Bowls, I’ve been with him the biggest losses, he’s just always ... nice. He’s always willing to say hello, he’ll always talk to you. Anytime I’ve ever asked — and I rarely ask players for something an autograph or something — Eli doesn’t even blink an eye. He’s just the most gracious person I’ve ever met.”

Asked what kind of cereal, Scacciaferro said: “Cheerios,” and chuckled.

Equipment manager Joe Skiba: “He is the same person as he was from Day 1 until now. You would have thought that fame and stardom would change him, but it hasn’t. That’s the funny part — like he’s almost immune to it.

“There’s very few players in today’s game that you could use the term ‘throwback.’ [Eli] comes in, and drives his Toyota, usually parks in the same spot every day. He’s a normal guy, he’s just a normal guy. And it’s not like that in the league anymore, it’s not.”

He was the first Giant to win the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year honors last February.

Giants video director Dave Maltese: “Being around this organization for 27 seasons, I’ve never seen a player that cared more for this organization, its fans, and the people outside of this organization than Eli Manning.”

Leave your cell phone unguarded and Manning will change it from English to Chinese. Prior to the flight to Arizona for Super Bowl XLII, Manning secretly replaced his offensive linemen’s dress shoes with new ones that he had spray-painted purple and pink. When they boarded the plane, their regular shoes were waiting for them.

“Eli put the shoes on the plane for the offensive linemen,” Skiba said. “So when he went onto the plane they were wearing all the spray-painted shoes, and when they came off they were actually wearing their regular shoes.”

Tuck: “I think it’s a sense of him being more of a blue-collar type superstar. He’s not one of these superstars that you always kind of see dressing flashy and bringing attention to himself. I think New York appreciated that.

“It just seems like all the success he’s had really has never changed him. ... He drives a Toyota,” Tuck said with a laugh.

New York’s old SuperMann. And everlasting EveryMann. Everyone wanting him to end as CinderellaMann. Never the perfect 10. But damn close enough.