A semi-slow season on the NFL calendar gives us time to take a trip on the plane, 21 years to the spring of 2004, when Eli Manning was an Ole Miss freshman entering the draft.
The story is well known at this point.
The San Diego Chargers were in first place. Manning, the top prospect, did not want to play for the club. Ultimately, the Chargers selected him but traded the QB to New York in exchange for Philip Rivers (No. 4 pick). Manning would go on to win two Super Bowls with Big Blue.
On a recent episode of Bussin’ with the Boys, Manning detailed his reasoning for not wanting to play in San Diego, citing a disconnect with teammates and ownership.
“I just didn’t think they were the team that wanted to win the most at the time,” Manning said. “Marty Schottenheimer was the head coach, he was awesome. Respect him a lot. But they came to work for me in New Orleans… went to dinner and there was just friction between the head coach, the general manager. [A.J. Smith]owners [Spanos family]. They are all screaming – like fighting.
“We’re at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad as he’s like, ‘We’re in New Orleans and we’re eating at the Marriott?’
Perhaps the Chargers can credit Manning’s instruction for sparking a better commitment to winning. LA went to the playoffs in five of the next six seasons after the Manning rejection, and while they didn’t make it past the postseason, they fielded some great teams led by Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Sean Merriman, etc. four straight campaigns without making the playoffs, including back-to-back Wild Cards under Jim Harbaugh.
The discord part of the equation was more or less known as the reason Manning didn’t want to play in the lovely city of San Diego. A new story revealed by Manning was that it was his decision, not his father Archie’s, to get involved.
“My parents weren’t really supportive,” Manning said of his decision to turn down the Chargers. “Dad didn’t like the idea. He came to my defense and supported me after it was all upset…. After that he took the brunt of a lot of criticism. People were saying, ‘You played in New Orleans. All these years you didn’t win. So you’re trying to dictate where your son is going. He just bit his tongue and said, ‘This is what Eli wants to do. I support him.’ He did some press to save me from taking all the hits.”
Manning also noted that Cleveland, who had the No. 7 pick, was considering trading for his services, but the QB’s agent, Tom Condon, dismissed that idea as well.
In the end, it all worked out for Manning, who won a pair of Super Bowl MVPs for the Giants.
The new news of this is that Archie supported his son and never let on for more than two decades that he disagreed with Eli’s first decision. It is father.