Brett Favre's NFL-record streak of 297 consecutive starts ended because of injury. So did Peyton Manning's streak of 208 starts. Peyton's little brother, Eli, meanwhile, will see his streak of 2010 straight starts end on Sunday. Because...well, I'm still not sure why exactly.
The Giants are in the midst of a lost season. We all know that. They look destined for a Top 5 pick in the NFL Draft and Head Coach Ben McAdoo will almost certainly be fired (GM Jerry Reese should be, too). As a result of all this, they want to spend the rest of this season "evaluating their options" for 2018 (or something like that). And evidently Eli Manning, the Face of the Franchise for more than a decade and a two-time Super Bowl MVP, isn't one of those "options."
They're treating the rest of this year like a glorified preseason, and Eli Manning has every reason to be pissed about it. He was told the plan to let Geno Smith and Davis Webb but was given the option to start just to keep his streak going. He respectfully declined. Which he should've. Because this whole situation is just insulting.
Giants owner John Mara expressed regret for the way everything went down. Although, I'm not sure how much of it is actual regret for the way the Giants handled things and how much of it is trying to save face after the incredibly negative reaction from fans and pretty much everyone else.
It's actually pretty amazing how badly they screwed this up. Everyone is disappointed with how this season has gone. The Giants were supposed to be battling for a playoff berth. Not the No. 1 pick (which they have virtually no shot of getting since there's no way Cleveland's going to win two games). And there's plenty of blame to go around.
But very little, if any, of that blame can be directed at Eli Manning. It's not his fault the defense has been awful. It's not his fault every wide receiver on the team got hurt. It's not his fault they have no running game. Has it been his best season? No. Has it been his worst? I'd have to say "no" to that one, too.
Now, I feel the need at this time to admit that I've never really been an Eli Manning fan. I didn't like the way he manipulated his way to New York on draft day and never totally warmed to him as a result. But, I respect what he's done and what he's meant to the New York Football Giants franchise. They don't upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl twice! without him. He's had some ups and downs, but it's been mostly ups during the last 13-plus years. Eli's the all-time franchise leader in virtually everything and will most likely end up in Canton five years after he retires.
Which is why I'm angry about the way his streak is coming to an end. This isn't the way you treat the greatest quarterback in franchise history. Even if he doesn't figure into your future plans, you don't bench him. Especially when the guy you're replacing him with is Geno Smith, who wasn't exactly a star when he played for the other New York team.
This reminds me a lot of the way Favre was driven out of Green Bay and the way Peyton was thrown to the curb in Indy. Except there's a big difference between this situation and those two. The Packers had Aaron Rodgers waiting in the wings (and that's worked out OK for them). The Colts saw Andrew Luck as Peyton 2.0, just 10 years younger (he isn't). As for the Giants, I didn't even know Geno Smith was their backup quarterback until the other day.
In other words, they aren't benching Eli to make way for the QB of the future. All they're saying with this move is that the QB of the future isn't Eli. I wouldn't be surprised if Eli Manning has taken his last snap as a Giant. But if these are the last five games in which he'll be wearing a Giants uniform, he deserved a better ending.
He deserved a chance to say goodbye. Just like the fans deserved a chance to say goodbye to him. Instead Eli will end his Giants career standing on the sidelines in a baseball hat. That's not the ending anyone expected. Or wanted. It's just wrong. All the way around.
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