Does anyone know why Eli & Archie didn't want to go...

it was a bad franchise and didn't want Eli to be stuck in the same career as him. It seems like a lot of people have speculated or at least hinted that way.

...was that the organization was a mess.

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gave Archie the lowdown on the Chargers.

Buck.

didn't talk to the coach for at least a year because he didn't like him.

on the board besides the Cards, everyone knew Fitz was a cards pick months earlier; and he didn't want his kids fighting it out every year in the playoffs. But according to Eli's commentary they completely dislike the Chargers!
Strange for sure. I'm just looking for gloveone or some other asshat to at least try and explain.

Thanks.

In comment 11672277 Buck Dharma said:

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gave Archie the lowdown on the Chargers.

I always liked Marty. Couldn't win the big one, but was an excellent coach otherwise. Snyder fired him after he took an 0-5 team and finished 8-8. That was a huge mistake. He might well have improved a few games the next year.

reading Archie had someoneinside the Chargers tell him dont let Eli play here. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

recently that he couldn't remember the reason. Archie, from personal experience, was paranoid about Eli going to a dysfunctional organization.

and also didn't have a winning team for like almost a decade so Archie was advising Eli away from them.

Coincidently though, in 2004 they really turned it around with Brees and LT leading the way and then Rivers taking over soon thereafter.

He represents Brees and Eli - I'm sure he didn't want either to be the other's back-up.

Archie Manning never hit his true potential because he had no talent around him in New Orleans. Although San Diego had Tomlinson there was no track record of them doing well. San Diego did well because there was not much competition in the AFC West as Shannahan was not the same without Elway and his personnel moves left a lot to be determined, Oakland had Al Davis becoming even more senile and Kansas City was constantly putting square pegs into round holes

why the chargers wanted a new qb over brees.. seems silly now

it's sunny all the freaking time.

the draft in hindsight - One, San Diego would have been a fine place for Eli. Archie was just flat out wrong. They had a lot of good teams post '04 and obviously Rivers has done well there. Secondly the Chargers had their QB of the future on the roster already but didn't know it - Drew Brees.

Why did the Chargers let Drew Go? sounds like the real deal.

In a nutshell, it was a power struggle between Marty and AJ Smith. Lots of dirt, and I think you'll like reading it.

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and I have read it before but it does make A.J. Smith look a helluva lot more competent than he actually is or must be since the Mannings wanted no part of him.

Not sure it's 100 percent accurate.

is the guy writes about how Marty screwed up because he started Brees in that meaningless last game.

Well TC started Eli in our last game and Eli got hurt.

Coaches coach to win because the Ws and Ls are on their record. Not saying I agree or disagree but that's hardly totally indefensible.

It's been a while, but I remember hearing those words from his mouth.

on 5th ave

Archie was worried

As gently pointed out above the article loses credibility in painting AJ Smith as the good guy. He was/is a classic penis with ears. He rode Marty out of town and lost the Chargers the best coach in the history of their franchise.

The Chargers made a business decision regarding the smallish Brees and his ability to not only rehab the shoulder back to NFL viability but to remain healthy in the violent world of pro football. Rivers has played well for them and they did have some success in the post Brees era of the franchise.

With all that in mind there is no doubt in my mind that Archie and Eli also made a business decision and a very good one at that. The Chargers, under Smiths control were a dysfunctional mess. Archie played his entire career for a bottom dweller and he did not want to stand by and watch his son endure the same fate. I think it has worked out well for the Mannings.

One of the joys in my life is wearing Giants gear any time I go to San Diego. Good Lord they are still not over it.

But one of the possible reasons was that Archie didn't want Eli to wind up with a career like he did (never getting a chance at a Super Bowl despite great play) and he thought the Chargers didn't have what it took to be a team that could contend for a SB in the future.

In comment 11672473 bluepepper said:

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the draft in hindsight - One, San Diego would have been a fine place for Eli. Archie was just flat out wrong. They had a lot of good teams post '04 and obviously Rivers has done well there. Secondly the Chargers had their QB of the future on the roster already but didn't know it - Drew Brees.

The Chargers still had some dysfunction in the organization since 2004...and lived off a cakewalk of a schedule vs the AFC West for most of the past decade.

A suuccIn comment 11672396 Mr. Nickels said:

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why the chargers wanted a new qb over brees.. seems silly now

Because Drew Brees wasn't a very good QB his first three seasons in the NFL...

It misses the obvious fuckup by the Chargers - drafting Rivers in the first place. They obviously didn't realize what they had in Brees, and the tug of war that took place afterward between Smith and Schottenheimer should never have happened.

Just an article meant to reassure a fanbase that had one future SB winner slip through their fingers and another two time SB winner shun them that it was all just circumstance and that their management did the best job they could do in spite of how it turned out.

it was always presented as a case of SD was seen as a fucked up organization, and the Manning clan wanted Eli to go to a better functioning team. That part has never been a mystery. There's never been a competing theory (that I know of), so it's pretty much accepted as fact.

AJ Smith who has been a horrible GM. Easy to dump on Marty when he's not coaching anymore. To be honest, if I were to pick sides, I would take Marty over Smith.

They had a very interesting "Caught in the Draft" about the Eli trade and it really shows Smith to be both arrogant and stupid. Truth of the matter is, the Chargers did not draft Rivers, they drafted Eli even though Eli said he would not go to SD.

SD is just a bad franchise with poor ownership and a lousy GM.

Letting Brees, a pro bowl QB at the time, walk for no compensation is too big of a blunder to defend. Sorry AJ.

SD had good years post 2004 BECAUSE Eli was not in SD.
They got Rivers, Oben, their PK and punter(i think) and a guy named Merriman for Eli.
We got stuck with Peytons lil bro, and 2 SBs.

...in the history of the league, as evidenced by how often his name comes up in the conversation for open front office roles.