The New York Giants and New York Yankees share some similarities. They both called the former Yankee Stadium home with The Giants leaving for The Meadowlands in 1976. Being that both teams have been around in The New York area longer than The New York Jets and The New York Mets, they both enjoy the larger fan bases. Both The Giants and Yankees have produced numerous Hall of Famers in their respective sports such as Lawrence Taylor (Giants) and Mickey Mantle (Yankees). Now both teams possess two of the best clutch players around. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has been “Mr. Clutch” in New York City for nearly two decades, but now he has company in the form of Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Manning added to his growing legacy on Sunday when he erased a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to The Tampa Bay Buccaneers which resulted in a 41-34 victory for The G-Men. Manning threw for 510 yards in the game which wasn’t even a franchise record as Phil Simms threw for 513 yards in 1985. Manning did throw three interceptions in the first half which resulted in 21 points for Tampa Bay, but as always when it is fourth quarter time, Eli goes into high gear.
Manning threw 15 fourth quarter touchdowns last season which was a National Football League record as he led The Giants to their second Super Bowl Championship in five years. When former Giants general manager Ernie Acorsi scouted Manning at Ole Miss, he compared Manning to Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway for his ability to be unflappable. Elway and his Denver Broncos would appear to be staring defeat in the face until Elway would rally The Broncos in the fourth quarter. Manning has had games throughout his career where he will look lifeless for three quarters, but when the game is on the line he is deadly just like Jeter.
In Jeter’s time with The Yanks, the team has won five World Series Championships with Jeter’s fingerprints all over key plays. In The 1996 American League Championship Series against The Baltimore Orioles, Jeter hit the game-tying home run in the 8th inning as The Yankees would win the game in extra innings en-route to The World Series Title. In 2000, Jeter would become the first player in Major League Baseball history to become both The MLB All-Star Game and World Series Most Valuable Player in the same season. In 2001 with The Yankees on the verge of elimination in The American League Division Series against The Oakland Athletics, Jeter saved the series for The Yanks as he ran across the infield towards the first base line to catch right-fielder Shane Spencer’s throw that missed both cutoff men in the infield. Jeter gave a shuffle pass in the mode of Brett Favre to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada who was able to tag Jeremy Giambi of The A’s at the plate. The Yankees would win the game 1-0 as they overcame a 2-0 deficit in the series to make a fourth consecutive World Series appearance. Jeter will go down as one of the greatest Yankees of all-time just like Manning will be one of the greatest Giants in team history.
When The Giants drafted Manning in 2004, fans were excited as New York now had Peyton Manning’s little brother. The Giants fans were ready to boo him out of Gotham as the team entered Week 17 of the 2004 season with a record of 5-10. Manning led The Giants down the field for the game-winning drive against The Dallas Cowboys with under one minute left to play and the legend was born as Manning secured his first victory as a starting quarterback. Now you can find as many Manning jerseys worn around Manhattan as Jeter jerseys as they are both enjoying marketing success. Jeter has endorsed products from Ford cars to Visa while Manning has Citizen Eco-Drive watches and Toyota to name a few. Both Jeter and Manning have hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live as they are both media darlings in the media capital of the world.
As the calender prepares to shift to October, Jeter and his Yankees have their eyes set on the postseason and another World Series run while Manning and The Giants are trying to repeat as Super Bowl Champions which is something that no Giant team has been able to accomplish. Sports-wise, Manning and Jeter are truly “The Kings of New York”.
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