Why did Eli Manning refuse to play for the San Diego Chargers?

Ness · 08-14-2010, 04:31 PM

I randomly thought about this the other day when watching some preseason football. To this day I'm still not certain why. Perhaps it was explained at some point, but from what I know it's not entirely clear. If anyone has some insight, I'd love to hear it. I did find this on the web though from some poster on Yahoo. Quite interesting:

Quote:

Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning came out of college together and, as the two hot QB prospects that year, compared notes from time to time about their experiences. After they were drafted, Manning told Leaf about how well the Colts organization treated him. They basically bent over backward to make his transition to the NFL as smooth as possible, taking care of all the non-football stuff so Peyton could concentrate on immersing himself into the Colts offense. Manning was stunned to hear that Leaf's experience was completely different. Our golfing partner said that Leaf was basically left to figure it out for himself. If that's true, you combine it with the legendary stories about what an immature jerk Leaf is and begin understand why he crashed so quickly. Again, this is coming from a family friend. Who knows what the Chargers did or did not do for their rookie QB, or whether their management team was equipped to deal with such a high-maintenance player. Regardless of who was at fault for the failed Leaf-Chargers marriage, the allegedly shabby treatment of Leaf stuck with the Manning clan. And, our new golf buddy explained, that's why Archie Manning, the patriarch, threw such a fit on draft day when Eli was picked by San Diego.

That combined with the fact that they didn't think that the Chargers was a team that drove to be successful.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6093940AAVEDpK

thenewfeature06 · 08-14-2010, 04:40 PM

Maybe the MGMT is better in NY? lolol

Brent · 08-14-2010, 04:42 PM

I hardly think that Yahoo Answers is an acceptable resource.

That said, I just figured they saw the turmoil facing the Chargers at that point in time and wanted nothing to do with it.

Ness · 08-14-2010, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent

That said, I just figured they saw the turmoil facing the Chargers at that point in time and wanted nothing to do with it.

That is what I assumed. But the Manning family had no issues with Peyton going to the Colts...a franchise that was the NFL's doormat at the time.

bored of education · 08-14-2010, 05:04 PM

It was mostly Eli's camp/father that wanted him to NOT GO TO SD.

LizardState · 08-14-2010, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bored of education

It was mostly Eli's camp/father that wanted him to NOT GO TO SD.

True. And the fact that he wanted to be in the #1 media mkt. in the country & appear on more TV sets on Sundays than he would have in SD.

Ness · 08-14-2010, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bored of education

It was mostly Eli's camp/father that wanted him to NOT GO TO SD.

That's a pretty terrible gamble to take. They didn't know New York was going to be the team to trade up. I highly doubt they would have planned that out. And San Diego is a good market for football in it's own right. Besides if that truly was the case somehow/someway, then why did Archie let Peyton go to Indianapolis of all places?

descendency · 08-14-2010, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ness

And San Diego is a good market for football in it's own right.

No, it isn't. The fans almost had a blackout because it was going to drizzle.

It was Round 1 Titans @ Chargers, in 2007.

There are more soft NFL Chargers "fans" than there are Jets fans total.

Having said that, they seem to have done well to get Philip Rivers to be a better QB than Eli Manning.

J-Mike88 · 08-14-2010, 05:24 PM

This is why I hate Eli Manning, and Archie.
Eli has always been my least favorite player since this incident, which ironically happened at the same time as Pat Tillman was doing his work in Afghanistan, getting shot by our own people and dying.

Eli and Archie cried that San Diego wasn't a good enough organization for their services.

Eli vs Tillman?

doingthisinsteadofwork · 08-14-2010, 05:43 PM

It was smart of Eli not to go to San Diego they've yet to win a SB.

Saints-Tigers · 08-14-2010, 05:48 PM

Eli and Archie think they can do whatever they want because Peyton is really good.

Giantsfan1080 · 08-14-2010, 05:54 PM

I think Archie felt that the turmoil in the Chargers organization at the time was to much of a negative. They were poorly run at that point with the head coach and GM fighting all the time. Archie went through that in N.O. and he didn't want Eli's career to end up the same way. SD definitely knew the Giants were interested in Eli because Ernie Accorsi had a huge hard on for him and he let everyone know that. In the end Chargers fans are happy with Rivers and Giants fans are happy with Eli so everything worked out fine.

Ness · 08-14-2010, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doingthisinsteadofwork

It was smart of Eli not to go to San Diego they've yet to win a SB.

Drew Brees should have never went to New Orleans by that logic.

phlysac · 08-14-2010, 06:12 PM

And to think that Marty wanted Phillip Rivers anyways. Worked out for them.

Hurricanes25 · 08-14-2010, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doingthisinsteadofwork

It was smart of Eli not to go to San Diego they've yet to win a SB.

That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

Splat · 08-14-2010, 06:58 PM

He thought he was bigger then the league.

Giantsfan1080 · 08-14-2010, 07:19 PM

The thing is if you've read anything about Eli the last 5 years that's really not true. Archie had more to do with the whole situation.

nepg · 08-14-2010, 07:31 PM

A big reason they didn't want to go to SD was because they knew Brees was who he is. I think it was pretty obvious that Brees was turning a huge corner. Eli and his camp didn't want to be stuck in a QB controversy. They preferred to go to a place where he would definitely be the man and everyone in the organization would be working with that undoubted knowledge. I don't think it was as much the SD organization as it was the situation with Drew Brees.

San Francisco demonstrated that they learned from SD's predicament by sticking with Alex Smith. Now they'll be rewarded as SD would have been had SD stuck with Drew. How much better would SD be had they drafted Larry Fitzgerald with #1? ****'s sake, that team would have been insane!

bantx · 08-14-2010, 07:39 PM

Halsey · 08-14-2010, 08:00 PM

Wow, people are still not over this. It was obviously a good decision for Eli. He's won a Super Bowl and received a big contract extension in New York. Poor San Diego used the package of picks they got in return to acquire Philip Rivers, Shawn Merriman, Nick Hardwick and another player or two. It was a good trade for both teams. The only problem I see people having is they just don't like the Manning family. Why? Because they work hard, succeed, help market the league and avoid negative press? Damn those Mannings!

Halsey · 08-14-2010, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepg

A big reason they didn't want to go to SD was because they knew Brees was who he is. I think it was pretty obvious that Brees was turning a huge corner. Eli and his camp didn't want to be stuck in a QB controversy.

So Eli wanted to avoid QB controversy by going to a team with Kurt Warner? If it was so obvious that Brees was turning a corner, why did the Chargers Draft Rivers? You're using revisionist history.

Giantsfan1080 · 08-14-2010, 08:06 PM

We didn't have Warner at the time we drafted Eli. We had Kerry Collins who then demanded to be released because he saw the writing on the wall.

nepg · 08-14-2010, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halsey

So Eli wanted to avoid QB controversy by going to a team with Kurt Warner? If it was so obvious that Brees was turning a corner, why did the Chargers Draft Rivers? You're using revisionist history.

I'm not a revisionist. I thought it was stupid for them to draft a QB with Brees there, and still do. A lot of people who saw how Brees was progressing did.

Big difference between a young up-and-coming QB like Brees and an old guy on his last leg like Kurt Warner. Warner was at a very low point when Eli got to NY. Warner was essentially done, and just trying to pick up a paycheck at that point. Kurt Warner wasn't right again until he got to Arizona after sitting for awhile. His thumb finally healed, and he was able to do some of the things that made him so good with the Rams again.

Halsey · 08-14-2010, 08:13 PM

Brees looked so up and coming in 2003 that he was benched at one point for Doug Flutie, threw more ints than TDs, and San Diego was the worst team in the NFL. Brees didn't start to really shine until the 2004 season, the season after Rivers was drafted.

TimD · 08-14-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by descendency

No, it isn't. The fans almost had a blackout because it was going to drizzle.

It was Round 1 Titans @ Chargers, in 2007.

There are more soft NFL Chargers "fans" than there are Jets fans total.

Having said that, they seem to have done well to get Philip Rivers to be a better QB than Eli Manning.

Im confused. The jets have a pretty large fanbase