http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/071804/c0118manningc.html Amazing. Check out the offending paragraph: I'm sorry, but that's just punk. Act like you got a pair and fight like hell to turn the crappy team that drafted you around. It was one thing, in the days before full free agency, for an Archie Manning or a John Elway to do something like this if, indeed, they were going high in the draft to a team obviously unconcerned with winning at that time; it's another to do so today, when all 32 teams are literally always 1-2 years away from being in the playoffs.
I really believe that this whole thing is going to come back to bite Eli in the a$$. He insisted on going to the media capital of the world, and as soon as he becomes the starter for the Giants, and doesn't live up to all the hype, they're going to be on him like sharks on a bleeding carcass. If there's anything we love more than a hero, it's to see a hero fail...and that's a credo that the media lives by. He'd have been far better off in San Diego...the expectations are lower, and the media glare is not nearly so bright. If he'd gone there and failed, it would have been just another story of an overhyped QB. Now, if he even has only moderate success (quite likely), he can't win.
I have no problems with what the Mannings did. If you or I were good enough to pick and choose our employer anywhere in the country, we would do it too! Personally, I would do anything possible to avoid playing for the Saints! They played the system very well and got what they wanted ... only time we'll tell if it will work out. G_MAN is right, the NY media will eat Eli alive if he falters.
i agree with tigerwins. it is a business, just a sport. play wherever you want. sit out or pull whatever scam you can and get traded wherever you want. it doesnt seem like anyone would complain if these kids were refusing to work for merrill lynch because they preferred solomon brothers. it is their job, who am i to tell them where they have to work and live and move their families to?
