When The 2004 National Football League Draft rolled around there were
questions swirling around The New York Giants. The Giants had just come
off of a season in which the team had fired head coach Jim Fassel after
The Giants finished the campaign with a record of 4-12. The Giants then
introduced Tom Coughlin as their new head coach and the new regime was
making preparations to bring the franchise back to prominence. Entering
the draft, The Giants held the fourth overall pick and were poised to
take a quarterback. Some analysts expected The Giants to take Ben
Roethlisberger out of Miami (Ohio), while some expected Big Blue to
draft Philip Rivers from North Carolina State. Most experts did not
expect The Giants to be in the mix for Eli Manning. The San Diego
Chargers had the first overall pick and they were expected to draft
Manning. A monkey wrench was thrown into the plans of The Chargers when
Manning notified The Chargers that he did not want to take his talents
to San Diego.
The Chargers general manager A.J. Smith stuck to his guns and drafted
Manning with the first pick. A chorus off boos echoed throughout Madison
Square Garden as many fans of The Giants in attendance. The Giants
drafted Rivers and within an hour they had traded Rivers and draft picks
to San Diego for the phenom from Ole Miss. The Giants had finally their
guy going forward.
As always fans in New York City expect success immediately and that
didn’t happen. Manning’s record in his first year was 1-6 as he
struggled as a rookie. Roethlisberger was drafted in the first round by
The Pittsburgh Steelers and won he 13 games as a starter that year. The
Steelers finished 2004 with a record of 15-1 and went to The AFC
Championship Game. In 2005, Roethlisberger and The Steelers were
hoisting up The Vince Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl Champions. Manning
and The Giants were NFC East Champions that year, but were quickly shown
the door in the playoffs by The Carolina Panthers.
By the end of 2006, Manning had seen Roethlisberger win a Super Bowl and
Rivers emerge as a Pro Bowl quarterback. Fans, teammates, and the media
in The Big Apple were questioning Manning as far as his leadership. As
soon as Giant running back Tiki Barber retired in 2006, he questioned
Manning’s leadership ability. Barber didn’t think that Manning would be
the guy for The Giants.
In 2007, The Giants made the playoffs for a third consecutive year.
Manning was finally able escape the shadow of Roethlisberger, Rivers,
and his brother Peyton Manning who is the quarterback for The
Indianapolis Colts. Manning’s Giants defeated The Green Bay Packers and
quarterback Brett Favre at a frigid Lambeau Field in Green Bay to win
The NFC Championship. Manning went on to become The Super Bowl MVP by
leading The Giants on a game winning touchdown in the final minute of
the game. Winning The Super Bowl is a great accomplishment in itself,
but The Giants defeated The New England Patriots and their combination
of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The duo entered
the game with three Super Bowl Titles together. The Patriots were 18-0
and were expected to be the first team to go undefeated since The 1972
Miami Dolphins who went 17-0.
After the victory, fans of The Giants started to embrace Manning the
same way that I embrace cheesecake, but he still had doubters. August
2009 saw Manning sign a six-year, $97.5 contract extension to remain as
the quarterback of The Giants. In the two following seasons, The Giants
didn’t qualify for the playoffs and questions arose again about whether
Manning could still lead The Giants.
Manning saw key pieces on offense depart prior to the start of this
season. Center Shaun O’Hara was released while tight end Kevin Boss
signed with The Oakland Raiders and wide receiver Steve Smith signed
with The Philadelphia Eagles. Many experts expected this to be a down
season for Manning and The Giants. The Giants have started this season
with a record of 6-2. This season Manning has led the team to fourth
quarter comebacks over The Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Miami
Dolphins, and The New England Patriots. Manning raised eyebrows in the
offseason when he considered himself in the same elite class of
quarterbacks as Brady. Manning is making his case as a MVP candidate as
he has The Giants in first place in The NFC East.
Former Giant general manager Ernie Acorsi knew what he was doing in
getting Manning. Acorsi was the general manager of The Baltimore Colts
when the franchise drafted quarterback John Elway in 1983. Elway refused
to play for The Colts, the same way that Manning refused to play for
The Chargers. The Colts traded Elway to The Denver Broncos without
Acorsi being consulted. Elway went on to lead The Broncos to five Super
Bowl appearances and they won twice.
Acorsi saw something in Manning and did not want to lose out again.
Acorsi, Manning, and Coughlin all took flack as Rivers and
Roethlisberger had early success, but The Giants made the right move. In
2006, Roethlisberger had a motorcycle accident which nearly claimed his
life. Roethlisberger followed this up by having sexual allegations
heaped on him in both Nevada and Georgia. Last year The Steeler
organization was on the verge of trading their franchise quarterback to
The Oakland Raiders as they had become tired of Roethlisberger’s antics.
Rivers is a quarterback that will put up big numbers, but he is
developing a reputation as a quarterback that cannot win the big one.
Rivers got The Chargers to The AFC Championship in 2007, but they fell
short to The Patriots. On two separate occasions, Rivers and The
Chargers have had the best record in The AFC heading into the playoffs,
only to suffer devastating home losses. This season Rivers has become a
turnover machine as he already has thrown
14 interceptions which leads The NFL.
Manning’s demeanor is perfect for New York City as he appears
unflappable. Although Roethlisberger has led The Steelers to two Super
Bowl Championships, the media would have eaten him alive in New York
City for his problems off of the playing field. Rivers and his inability
to win the big game would always be questioned on every sports radio
show in New York along with specualations about him being on the back
page of every newspaper in town. The Giants never questioned their
decision to draft Manning and nobody else should. Manning is the perfect
quarterback for The Giants and New York City.
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