Daddy Manning Doesnt Want Little Eli To Play For Chargers

He has that choice - nothing compels a player to sign with the team that drafts them. Eli isn't breaking any rules, just like Francis didn't break any rules, he's simply exercising an option he has to simply sit out a year - and then get drafted again.


This is his ****ing career - he has the right to look out for his own best interests here, I don't see why this is so hard to see. His best interests are NOT served by going to the Chargers - in fact, it's directly oppossed to his best interests. Why the **** should he do it? There's no good reason here - he's going to be in the NFL, he's going to be a high pick, he's going to get money - nothing is gained by going to the Chargers versus the other teams in the draft - and there is a potential for great loss.

 

You have no idea what his career would be like if he played for the Chargers. Quit acting like you do.

 

Neither do you - but the history of the Chargers suggests a bad ending - why take the stupid chance?

The most likely outcome of his career will be to end up like the guy who'll be standing on the sideline holding a clipboard all next season - San Diego's last franchise QB.

 

Or, it could end up like their pick from a few years ago, one of the best RBs in the league. The Chargers didn't mess up Ryan Leaf. Ryan Leaf messed up Ryan Leaf.

 

If Eli Manning was a running back, he'd probably have more room to be confident - but Eli Manning is a quarterback, and the ghosts of Ryan Leaf's and Drew Brees's career do rather haunt that position.

His career would benifit to end up in a place like New York or Oakland, there's really no benifit for him to get drafted by the Chargers over those teams - and a great deal more risk.

 

So, if the Chargers pick someone else, will Archie frantically try to get on ESPN to talk about how Eli doesn't want to play for the Oakland Raiders... and then if they pass, a frantic talk about not wanting to play for the Cards?

I don't see what's so great about the Giants anyway. It's not like there's a history of great QBs there. If anything, there have been adequate QBs who were able to do well, sometimes for an extended period, sometimes not. But it hasn't been a place that has had talented QBs who went on to shine.

And it's not like their four winning seasons over the last ten years are anything to write home about (granted, that's better than the two winning seasons the Chargers have put together in the last ten years).

To me, the Giants aren't really all that well run of an organization. I mean, a 78-81-1 record over the last ten years is downright mediocre, at best (better than the Chargers' 63-97 or the Cards' 57-103, but not as good as the Raiders' 81-79), even with a couple of Super Bowl losses. Would his career be better up there? Who knows.

Personally, I do hope the Chargers pass on Manning... and Arizona picks him... and then picks him again the following year when they have the #1 overall and he's still sitting out.

Either that or I hope the Giants draft him and then never make the playoffs again throughout his entire career.

His career would benifit to end up in a place like New York or Oakland, there's really no benifit for him to get drafted by the Chargers over those teams - and a great deal more risk.

Because of all those great, young QBs that the Giants and Raiders have developed?

That the Chargers got burned on two QB draft picks doesn't mean that they can't develop a QB. Every team has bad drafts, sometimes they have a few bad, high-profile picks.

It may well be, though, that someone like Eli Manning makes the difference between the Chargers as they are now and a Chargers team that's back in the Super Bowl.

He doesn't want to play for the Chargers, that's fine, I suppose. And if he wants to sit out if they draft him, I'm okay with that. But I don't like the blackmail aspect of it, i.e. the "I want to play for the Giants, so find a way to make a deal so I can go there" kind of thing. It hampers the Chargers' ability to make a trade (let's say the Dolphins want Manning and are willing to trade up to get him. Manning has torpedoed that), potentially making the pick less valuable from a trade standpoint.

 

Personally, I feel like this says a great deal more about Eli's personal confidence and leadership abilities than anything else. I've heard experts all say that this doesn't cause them to question his ability to lead a team, but if he is going to these lengths to get out of playing for a team that might or might not be a worse fit for him than others, then you have to wonder how much he might care about personal gain rather than helping a team win.

To my way of thinking, a QB that is potentially a number 1 draft pick should have enough confidence in his ability that he can take a sub par team like San Diego and make them a contender. If he is already convinced that that is not a possibility, I don't think he is going to have the mental strength to be a great NFL quarterback. Therefore, the Chargers don't need to be taking his silly ass anyway.

 

I'd like to know exactly why they didn't choose San diego. Somebody please ask them!

 

I'm with RM95 here.

How is playing for the Chargers directly opposed to his best intersts? How can he be better served in Cleveland, NY or anywhere else for that matter? He is already going to be labeled as a prima donna given this whole situation which, IMO, is directly opposed to his best interests.

You think he will be happy if the Giants trade for him and the cover of Sunday's NY Post has a big picture of Eli with the caption "Daddy's Boy Gets His Way"?

This is a kid who will most likely be compared to his brother for his entire career and will have to deal with a lot more sh*t than his daddy will be able to protect him from.

Obviously Archie is still gambling...this time with his kid's future.

And if you think that Archie wanted this quiet and that the Chargers are to blame for the media circus surrounding this, think again. The Manning family knows full well how the media works these days. They aren't so stupid to think that something like this would have been kept confidential.

 

Does anyone think Manning is good enough to be considered a no brainer #1 pick?

 

This deserves to be repeated. The Chargers gave Leaf every opportunity to lead the team, and he quit on them. The Chargers deserve little blame in that situation.

If Eli thinks New York is the place to be, he is in for a rude awakening. After the initial "OMG! We got Manning!" honeymoon is over, the NY media will rip him a new one every chance they get (with Peyton comparisons). And if the media doesn't completely crush his confidence, the lack of a good offensive line certainly will.

Therefore, I'm rooting for Manning to become a Giant. How will Archie feel when his dear son Eli is scrambling for his life? How will he feel when Shockey publicly rips his new QB for denying him the ball? How will he feel when Eli marches his new team down the field, only to end up with ANOTHER Tiki Barber fumble?

Oh, yeah, I COMPLETELY agree with Eli and Archie. I'd definitely welcome NY's harsh winters and rude attitudes over San Diego's sunny days and hot chicks.

 

I'm not sure if has been posted in this thread:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=fanball-chargerschargerselim&prov=fanball&type=lgns

Chargers: Eli may sit the season

News

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that quarterback Eli Manning is prepared to sit the entire 2004 season if the Chargers select him with the top overall pick in Saturday's NFL draft. In that scenario, Manning would re-enter the draft in 2005. Manning, his father, and his agent are of course posturing as they attempt to avoid being drafted by San Diego, a sentiment they've expressed explicitly to Chargers general manager A.J. Smith on at least two occasions in the past two weeks.

Views

Patriarch Archie Manning is reportedly very angry at the Chargers for taking their conversations public, and this has all the makings of an increasingly bitter relationship. San Diego is no doubt tempted to stand strong and do what's best for their organization, but they would face some extremely challenging obstacles if they were to draft Manning. Even if the quarterback is simply bluffing about sitting out the season, he could still hold out and create a negotiating and public relations nightmare for the team. On the other hand, if they feel good about some of the other top-10 options in the draft—such as offensive tackle Robert Gallery or quarterback Philip Rivers—they could avoid the Manning situation altogether. Of course, with the entire world now aware of Eli's stance, the Chargers' leverage and potential return in a trade down has definitely been compromised. Surprisingly, there is a precedent for this strange draft development. Former NFL MVP quarterback John Elway told the Baltimore Colts not to draft him with the top pick in 1983 and threatened to play professional baseball if they did not trade him after doing so. A week after the draft, Elway was traded to the Denver Broncos in one of the most lopsided trades in league history. Ironically, the Colts general manager at the time was none other than current Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi—who is currently in hot pursuit of a trade that would net Manning.

 

I'm not even sure he's the no brainer #1 qb, let alone #1 overall player.

here's some more:

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Imagine this scenario: Around 11:15 Saturday morning, with San Diego on the clock and its time limit for exercising the first choice in the draft about to expire, Paul Tagliabue steps to the podium and announces that the Chargers have selected quarterback Eli Manning of Ole Miss.


Then the commissioner turns, holds up a San Diego game jersey for the traditional photo opportunity with the top pick -- and finds himself staring at Eli Invisible.


Can't happen? Guess again. Thursday, a day rife with intrigue, filled with brinkmanship and fraught with rumors and mounting misinformation, ended with the Chargers and the Manning family locked in an old-fashioned stare down, with neither side prepared to blink.


All the rhetoric about the New York Giants being close to a deal that would net them the top choice (and Manning) and permit the Chargers to squeeze out of an ignominious situation in which their Chosen One chooses not to play for them? Forget it.


There were midday rumors that the Giants had offered the Chargers their first- and second-round choices in this year's draft, along with a choice of their second-round pick in 2005 or wide receiver Ike Hilliard. It sounded good, but it wasn't true. There was a shred of substance to the whispers that Tagliabue was maintaining a personal presence in the standoff, but league officials debunked the notion the commissioner was attempting to broker a deal, and one owner noted that would be overstepping his bounds.


On Thursday night, key sources from both franchises acknowledged to ESPN.com that the teams are no closer now to a trade than they were two weeks ago, when Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi first contacted San Diego counterpart, A.J. Smith.


In fact, as of late Thursday, the Giants had not phoned the Chargers. Said one New York source: "Whatever long-distance carrier we've got better not plan on getting rich off this thing." Giants officials speculated that San Diego executives would call on Friday, but that was simply supposition.


There is a good chance the Giants will wait until Saturday, when San Diego is on the clock, and see how the Chargers feel then about choosing a player who has hinted that he could sit out the 2004 season and re-enter the draft in 2005.


And there is this nugget: One high-ranking NFL official told family patriarch Archie Manning, who is privately fuming that the Chargers went public with the request that the franchise not choose his youngest son, that San Diego management has informed the league of its intent to choose Eli Manning.


If that's the case, and there is still a long way to go until the moment of truth arrives on Saturday, it could be a choice made with the guest of honor in absentia.


Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

 

If his last name was anything but Manning, I think he'd be lucky to be in the top 10.

 

Remember when Cushman was gonna be taken by the Broncos or the Chargers..."Surf or Ski!!!"...but his daddy really wanted him to go to the Broncos? Man, that was a wild draft year.

 

Coffee and laptops don't mix well. Thanks, Max.

BTW, I have something to tell you that'll piss you off to no end. Check yo e-mail.

 

I completely forgot about that movie. I'm gonna start calling Eli "Cush" now.