The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Manning ready to introduce himself again
Longtime Giants QB looking forward to fresh start this year.
As the young kids quietly sat at attention in a circle at midfield of Kean Alumni Field in Union, N.J., Eli Manning stepped in front of them in shorts and a T-shirt, a Gatorade towel draped over his shoulders, and began to speak.
“My name is Eli Manning,” he said. “I play quarterback for the Giants.”
Maybe it was just a formality, but it was worth noting that Manning needed to introduce himself to kids, a 37-year-old still sticking around in a world of what have you done to get on a top10 highlight list today. And maybe it was something he had to assert, too, that he was still the Giants quarterback after last season’s troubling decision-making by management as the franchise struggled on the field and seemed ready to replace him.
The coach and general manager were fired and Manning got the backing of the new general manager, Dave Gettleman, and the new head coach, Pat Shurmur. The Giants passed on a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the draft, throwing their faith into Manning again.
So he still is Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants.
“It’s still an excitement,” Manning said. “It kind of proves to yourself that you still should be doing this. I look forward to it. I work hard all summer to get ready for the upcoming season, to get ready for training camp. I know I still can perform at a high level, play great football, win a lot of football games.”
He didn’t exactly leak out that he is an elite quarterback, but that might just be a matter of semantics, the difference between, “elite” and “high level.” But he believes that the faith in his play that Gettleman and Shurmur have showed is not misplaced. Gettleman was a vocal advocate for Manning, insisting that he believed that he not only could be the quarterback now, but for years to come. But he is now away from the team, fighting a battle with cancer.
“I’m just saying a prayer for him and his family,” Manning said. “He’s a great guy and all of the Giants family are there for him, backing him up. We’ve talked a little bit and I know he’s doing everything he has to do to get better.”
Manning was out for a promotional appearance last week, appearing at the Offense-Defense Football Camp and the towel was not just to wipe away sweat, but an advertisement for his part as spokesman in Gatorade’s Beat the Heat program.
But he has been on the field at voluntary and mandatory workouts this summer, acclimating to the new system and working on a fit with the new pieces — particularly the running back who the Giants took with that No. 2 overall pick, Saquon Barkley.
Even with 14 seasons already in the league, Manning will report early to camp with the rookies — three days ahead of the rest of the squad — as part of Shurmur’s program that requires the quarterbacks in with that early crew.
“It’s a first, a first for me,” he said. “I think it’ll be good. Looking forward to it. Obviously, with the new offense and new terminology to kind of get there a few days early and just get that kind of the mind working the right way, get all your calls down, get a little introduction to that again and get refreshed with everything, I’m looking forward to getting in there and getting a little jumpstart.
“I think I’ve worked hard every offseason. It doesn’t change. Always come in in shape, throwing a lot, doing everything to keep on pace and always make improvements. Always trying to get better and find things you need to work on. So I’ve had a good offseason. During the spring, learning a new offense it takes more time in the classroom just to learn the offense, doing that studying. I’m trying to do whatever it takes to get where we want to go.”
If they have resolved their quarterback controversy the Giants haven’t exactly solved all of their problems as they ready for the season to begin. Odell Beckham Jr. remains in search of a new contract. But all of the pieces seem intent on making things work on the field better than last season when the Giants plummeted to a 3-13 season.
He was asked if he had seen the videos of Beckham Jr., Evan Engram, Barkley, Sterling Sheppard and Roger Lewis working out at UCLA — shirtless.
“Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of videos,” Manning said, noting that they were always shirtless. While he said he appreciated the work, he joked, “I know they’ll have to make some adjustments. We do practice with our shirts on with the Giants — the friction, they’ll have to make an adjustment the first few weeks. Might be something new for them and take a little while for them to get used to that. Besides that, I know those guys, it’s great that they’re together, they’re challenging each other and getting excited for the upcoming season.”