First, I am going to take you back to the benching of Eli for Geno.
If you recall, the fans lost their minds over this. Especially those who were more concerned about a streak for Eli than the future of the team. This is not to say that Geno was the future. However, it was the first step in moving on from a great Giant QB who was not getting it done anymore.
Then, John Mara said and I quote "I did not expect the fans to get so emotional" over the decision. In my opinion, this is why they did not immediately draft his replacement and maybe why the Giants were not willing to draft Mahommes (or any other QB prospect) when available in and around that time.
You see, John wants the team to win but he is also marketing the team. Sometimes he is placing more weight on marketing.
Now, fast forward to the hard knocks clip where John is talking to Joe about Barkley. I am linking to it below. John Mara's concern is that Barkley is "popular".
This is how teams turn into cellar dwellers. Making decisions for the wrong reasons. Thank God Joe is only listening to him now and hopefully will never allow John to influence player personnel decisions.
Am I making too much of this? Maybe.. but we have no idea how much of this has happened behind closed doors.
John Mara Comments - (
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Giants player quit - ( New Window )
And by the way - Smith wasn’t very good last year either.
And hey I get it. Hard to keep your scam operation ripping off fans with jerseys that "pass as game worn" when you don't play. Should've just played your half little scammer.
JFC, you are glossing over some significant pieces of the story that take Mara off the hook...
JFC, you are glossing over some significant pieces of the story that take Mara off the hook...
Are you ignoring my question to you in regards of voluntarily coming out of a game as an athlete?
Since I’ll be the adult - Mara, Reese, and McAdoo all handled it about as poorly as possible.
You have said you were a division 1 athlete. As was I. If I was told that no matter how I played - I was automatically coming out would something that would not set well with me. So as much as certain posters who forever have shitted on Eli and went as far saying he wasn’t that good - Eli did the right thing by saying - I’m not good enough to finish - then I should t start. He didn’t let the streak affect his mindset.
Him letting Geno start and finish the game was the right way - and in reality it was.
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In comment 16560622 JT039 said:
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The McAdoo love fest here is sad. A horrific coach. Offense got worse when he became in charge of it. Players quit on him.
Who cares if he liked Mahones. I am pretty damn confident him grooming and coaching him would have halted his greatness immediately.
And he didn’t lead us to the playoffs in 2016. The defense did which he had little to do with.
No lovefest from me.
Just pointing out that Mara made him the fall guy for something that Mara ordered to do in the first place. Which was to bench Eli.
Mr. Class certainty didn't act like it that week...
Weird take. As an athlete I wouldn’t want to be pulled halfway through a game. Would you?
As a former Div. 1 athlete I wouldn't want to be pulled. But if there was nothing to play for and the reason was to help make the team better in the long run I would undwrstand it. And i certainly wouldn't have said 'if i'm not going to play the whole game then i'm not going to play at all.'
It happens with every NFL team every year once the playoffs are out of reach - except the Giants. Coughlin would never replace starters with rookies in meaningless games at the end of losing seasons because that would be 'bad for the integrity of the league.' Sorry, his job was to make the Giants better.
Also, the reason they didn't just switch starters was their immense respect for Eli and his streak. It wasn't handled well by anyone involved, including Eli.
Plus whoever was being put in would be at a disadvantage as well. Coming in at half time is not a comfortable feeling.
Crying like a little baby about it afterward was the issue. Buck up little bronco, part of the reason the team was eliminated was because you were shot.
--He correctly evaluated Geno Smith as someone who could be a QB here. Smith ultimately led the Seahawks to the playoffs and earned a lucrative contract. McAdoo was right.
--He correctly was very high on Patrick Mahomes.
--He knew Eli was near the end.
I love Eli. That goes without saying. But, McAdoo paid the price for challenging Eli and the Mannings. He was never going to win that battle.
But, looking back. McAdoo was right about a lot. I know we can't say that here though.
Guy was joke. Shit coach. He sooooo amazing he's what done at since ? Now was he at fault for the who team no.
And so fucking what he liked Mahommes. Wow. Rehire him now.
Crying like a little baby about it afterward was the issue. Buck up little bronco, part of the reason the team was eliminated was because you were shot.
Sure it was the issue - the fact he was 'benched' is what pissed off many fans. If Eli had accepted it as what was best for the team there would have been no issue.
And show me one other NFL player who, when told the team was going to start giving a young guy playing time in his place, told his team 'I'm not going to play at all then.'
People will think whatever they want and facts be damned if it doesn't fit their narrative.
I'm not a hero worship kind of guy. Manning was a very good quarterback and had some truly amazing moments, that brought all of us a great deal of joy.
He also from day one knew how to play to the cameras, and was complicit in defrauding well meaning fans with the equipment bozos.
He's not a saint. He just plays one in front of the cameras.
You mean like this?
"It's hard day to handle this, but I'll hang in there and figure it out," Manning told reporters, fighting back tears in the locker room.
Some always have. This is nothing new.
I love Eli. Love him.
He didn't handle that situation well, and the Giants didn't handle the last few years of his career well. Too much emphasis was placed on that meaningless games played streak and on him not wearing another uniform, and not enough emphasis was placed (by the organization) on doing whatever has to be done to build a winning team.
It ended up being to the detriment of everyone involved.
Lot of catch words and phrases being used here: setup, undermining. To me and others with a clue - they have little to zero value to the discussion at hand.
And I have cried over missing my 9 year olds basketball games because I was too sick to go. Does that make a little bitch?
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It saddens me reading this thread and seeing posters I respect shitting on Eli.
I love Eli. Love him.
He didn't handle that situation well, and the Giants didn't handle the last few years of his career well. Too much emphasis was placed on that meaningless games played streak and on him not wearing another uniform, and not enough emphasis was placed (by the organization) on doing whatever has to be done to build a winning team.
It ended up being to the detriment of everyone involved.
The only person who didn’t care about the streak was Eli. But he’s a bitch according to some.
The real villain in the play is Mara. He was too busy trying to orchestrate soft landings, he ended up make a mess of every happy ending.
From Coughlin's 'retirement' to Manning's benching.
I respect the way Young did it with Simms. Dude you're old, it's over. See you at the Super Bowl reunion.
lol.
I think you crying because you're seriously ill and missed something important to your family, and Manning putting on the waterworks because he chose not to play a game is quite different.
lol.
Man of the year. Just don't buy anything off his eBay store.
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And I have cried over missing my 9 year olds basketball games because I was too sick to go. Does that make a little bitch?
I think you crying because you're seriously ill and missed something important to your family, and Manning putting on the waterworks because he chose not to play a game is quite different.
Listen - I don’t know how people react. But if something is taken away from you that you have done your whole life is easy.
But let me ask you an honest question. Do you think it’s possible when told of this news that Eli thought his career was over? This wasn’t suppose to be a 1 game trial. Being told you’re not good enough anymore had to be a gut shot. I would wager he probably thought his career was over.
Now following this can all be laid on Mara, I agree with you 100%. But knowing something is coming to an end can be emotional.
You could be right. But shouldn’t we be thankful that if it was an act - it got McAdoo out quicker? Haha. I try to look at any positives!
I respect his game. He's pocketed a quarter B, parlayed his goofball act into a character that will pay him in perpetuity, and he was pretty legit on the field in the biggest moments.
He's a slick dude. I just wouldn't leave my wallet on the coffee table if he was at the house.
The irony in this whole thing is that Mara, in his misguided attempts to do right by a player he loved, did much to damage Eli's career and legacy. It would have been better for Eli to leave the organization after 2015 when that contract expired. Clean house - Reese, Coughlin, Eli all leave with their heads held high and start a new project.
Instead we got what we got. Once a Giant, Always a Giant. Who cares?
I was pretty young when Simms was cut. I had never really seen how fine of a line between having it and not having it looked like.
Just a fraction of a second slower, and a little bit less in the arm, and invincible Manning was target practice Manning.
I played a D1 sport as well and I learned in the little leagues in 3 sports the best players play and you play to win.
The idea that an NFL team (with a two time SB MVP) would have a pre-determined plan is ridiculous. You have a HC on his way out and GM that should have already been long gone executing this plan makes it even worse.
I love Eli.
My main point is history should be kind to both McAdoo and Reese. What followed from 2018-2023 speaks for itself.
LOL, yes when the owner instructed the GM and coach it was time to take a look at the backups, the right decision was to have no plan.
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It saddens me reading this thread and seeing posters I respect shitting on Eli.
I love Eli.
My main point is history should be kind to both McAdoo and Reese. What followed from 2018-2023 speaks for itself.
Reese - yes. Much like Eli - his career ended badly. But the first half of his career he was on track to be a HOF GM.
Mcadoo should not be remembered at all.
I think you said it. 2018 Eli > 2022 Jones
If you think it was Mara's doing?
The ball then really got rolling Monday, a day before the Giants returned from their three-day holiday break following their 20-10 Thanksgiving night loss to the Redskins.
"Jerry called me on Monday afternoon - I was at a family function in Virginia - to tell me that Ben was going to be speaking to Eli to let him know he was going to be continuing to start the game, but that at some point, Geno would come in," Mara said.
"Tuesday morning, Jerry called me and said Eli had informed Ben that if you're going to play Geno in the second half, you may as well just start him. It's not fair to him, it's not fair to me, I think that would be the best decision going forward. He also wanted us to put out a statement announcing it. So that's what we did."
He wasn't benched. He chose not to play because they told him they wanted to get the other QBs, mainly Webb, some playing time so they could evaluate them. A competitor would have gone out and played the best he could for the first half of each game to show they didn't need think about replacing him the next year.
It doesn't change the point I did make about a high quality GM squashing it.
Instead we all got treated to another season plus of Manning getting curb stomped and double digit losses.
Yay us.
Eli never “cried” about the benching. His issue was that whatever plan Mara, or Reese or McAdoo came up with, would have him “start” the game, just to check a box for his streak but then pull him somewhere in the middle of the game.
It’s clear that Eli was questioning the competitive spirit of that arrangement both in terms of trying to win a football game and also cheapening what is a very prestigious streak but one that Giants fans clearly don’t appreciate anyway.
Fucking idiots.
McAdoo didn't do anything to deserve any recognition or applause. To praise him for the 2014-2015, while TC was handling the offensive reigns? We saw his offense in 2016 and he couldn't sustain a run game or have any creativity on offense. 30th ranked YPA on the ground. A supposed wizard from the McCarthy tree, worked with TE's and we all remember the glory days of Will Tye, Adrien Robinson and Larry Donnell.
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I think the FO fucked up the back end of Eli's career. Simple as that. I have no problem with Eli being pissed that he was benched. He's a competitor.
He wasn't benched. He chose not to play because they told him they wanted to get the other QBs, mainly Webb, some playing time so they could evaluate them. A competitor would have gone out and played the best he could for the first half of each game to show they didn't need think about replacing him the next year.
Bullshit.
Hey, I'm looking forward to our college day threads.
Especially when you are deep into the sauce...
;)