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The 2004 NFL draft was a pivotal one for the New York Giants. General manager Ernie Accorsi had just hired Tom Coughlin to coach the team in January and was seeking a franchise quarterback to complete the exacta.
There were three quarterbacks that had high grades in the class: Miami of Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers of North Carolina State, and Eli Manning of Ole Miss.
Accorsi favored Manning, the son of former NFL Pro Bowler Archie and younger brother of current league superstar Peyton. The snag was that the Giants didn't have the first overall pick, and that is where Manning was expected to be taken. Accorsi immediately began working on moving up in the order.
The San Diego Chargers had the first overall pick, followed by the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. Manning had made it clear that he did not want to play for the Chargers, but they drafted him anyway after they could not reach a deal with the Giants. The next two selections were not quarterbacks, so Accorsi had his pick of Roethlisberger or Rivers.
He chose Rivers (Roethlisberger went No. 7 to Pittsburgh) and continued to work with San Diego on a deal for Eli. That came shortly after. It was Rivers and several picks in exchange for Manning.
At the time, NFL fans soured on Eli, viewing him as the league's ultimate nepo baby. Who was he to buck the system and dictate terms? John Elway did it, but he had options. And, he was John Elway.
In a recent appearance on the podcast Bussin' With the Boys, Manning was asked what turned him off about the Chargers back then.
"I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time,” Manning said. "Marty Schottenheimer was the head coach, who was awesome. Had great respect for him. But they came to work me out in New Orleans, went to dinner and there was just friction between the head coach, general manager [A.J. Smith], the owners [Spanos family]. They are all yelling — kind of like fighting."
Manning delved into depth about what happened in New Orleans.
"We are at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad like, ‘We’re in New Orleans and we’re eating at a Marriott?’ He’s like pissed. They are kind of bickering. It just didn’t seem there was a lot of agreement on things and they were committed to building a great winning franchise at that moment," he said.
Manning also went on to clear up another misconception about the draft. It was widely reported that Archie was advising Eli to steer clear of San Diego. Not true, says Eli. It was his own decision not to play there. Archie was just being supportive of his son.
"My parents really weren’t supportive," Eli said. "My dad didn’t like the idea."
But Archie, being the upstanding person he is, took the flak.
"He came to my defense and supported me after everything was going down. Afterwards, he took (the) blunt of a lot of the criticism," Manning said. "People were saying, ‘You played in New Orleans. All those years you didn’t win. So you are trying to dictate where your son is going.’ He just kind of bit his tongue and said, ‘This is what Eli wants to do.’ He kind of did some media to save me from taking all the hits."
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Eli Manning explains why he didn't want to play for Chargers
Continue reading...
There were three quarterbacks that had high grades in the class: Miami of Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers of North Carolina State, and Eli Manning of Ole Miss.
Accorsi favored Manning, the son of former NFL Pro Bowler Archie and younger brother of current league superstar Peyton. The snag was that the Giants didn't have the first overall pick, and that is where Manning was expected to be taken. Accorsi immediately began working on moving up in the order.
The San Diego Chargers had the first overall pick, followed by the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. Manning had made it clear that he did not want to play for the Chargers, but they drafted him anyway after they could not reach a deal with the Giants. The next two selections were not quarterbacks, so Accorsi had his pick of Roethlisberger or Rivers.
He chose Rivers (Roethlisberger went No. 7 to Pittsburgh) and continued to work with San Diego on a deal for Eli. That came shortly after. It was Rivers and several picks in exchange for Manning.
At the time, NFL fans soured on Eli, viewing him as the league's ultimate nepo baby. Who was he to buck the system and dictate terms? John Elway did it, but he had options. And, he was John Elway.
In a recent appearance on the podcast Bussin' With the Boys, Manning was asked what turned him off about the Chargers back then.
"I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time,” Manning said. "Marty Schottenheimer was the head coach, who was awesome. Had great respect for him. But they came to work me out in New Orleans, went to dinner and there was just friction between the head coach, general manager [A.J. Smith], the owners [Spanos family]. They are all yelling — kind of like fighting."
Manning delved into depth about what happened in New Orleans.
"We are at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad like, ‘We’re in New Orleans and we’re eating at a Marriott?’ He’s like pissed. They are kind of bickering. It just didn’t seem there was a lot of agreement on things and they were committed to building a great winning franchise at that moment," he said.
Manning also went on to clear up another misconception about the draft. It was widely reported that Archie was advising Eli to steer clear of San Diego. Not true, says Eli. It was his own decision not to play there. Archie was just being supportive of his son.
"My parents really weren’t supportive," Eli said. "My dad didn’t like the idea."
But Archie, being the upstanding person he is, took the flak.
"He came to my defense and supported me after everything was going down. Afterwards, he took (the) blunt of a lot of the criticism," Manning said. "People were saying, ‘You played in New Orleans. All those years you didn’t win. So you are trying to dictate where your son is going.’ He just kind of bit his tongue and said, ‘This is what Eli wants to do.’ He kind of did some media to save me from taking all the hits."
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Eli Manning explains why he didn't want to play for Chargers
Continue reading...
