ELI MANNING

'Elisha "Eli" Nelson Manning' (born January 3, 1981) is the starting Quarterback for the New York Giants NFL franchise and formerly for the Ole Miss Rebels college football team.

Contents

College career

Professional career

2004 NFL Draft

2004 season

2005 NFC East Champions

2006

Preparing for 2007

Personal life

See also

College career

Prior to making his college decision, Eli received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his father’s footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.[1]
While at the University of Mississippi, Eli Manning studied for a marketing major. During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 47 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7 (tied for sixth on the SEC career list).
In 2001, Manning earned honorable mention All-America honors from ''Football News'' and collegefootballnews.com. He also won the 2001 Conerly Trophy, given to the top collegiate football player in the state of Mississippi. He was one of 12 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award, given to the nation's top quarterback. Before the season, Manning was named to the ''Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook's'' 2001 preseason All-SEC first team.
In 2002, Manning was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. The Associated Press voted him second team All-SEC after the season. He was also named the Best Leader in the SEC by ''The Birmingham News''. Before the season, Manning was selected to the 2002 ''Playboy'' All-America team. He also was named to the preseason All-SEC second team by ''The Birmingham News'', ''The Sporting News'', and the ''Southeastern Post''.
In 2003, Manning led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He earned numerous accolades for his play. He won the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top player and the Conerly Trophy, as the best college football player in Mississippi. He also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation's top senior quarterback. He was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, given to the nation's top quarterback. He was also a finalist for The Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year Award. He earned first team All-America honors from ''The All-America Foundation'' and ''Southern Football Weekly''. He was named second team All-America by ''The Associated Press'' and ''The Sporting News'', and honorable mention All-America by ''Sports Illustrated''. He was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by ''The Associated Press'' and the ''SEC Coaches''. He was selected as the SEC Player of the Year by ''The Commercial Appeal'' and the ''SEC Coaches''. He won the Charlie Conerly Award, given to the top collegiate student-athlete in the state of Mississippi. He was named the 2003 SEC Most Valuable Back by the ''Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club''. He received the ''Touchdown Club of Atlanta'' Wally Butts Award as the Southeast's Top Offensive Back. He earned first team All-SEC honors by both ''The Associated Press'' and ''SEC Coaches''. He also garnered All-SEC honors from ''The Chattanooga Times Free Press'', ''CollegeFootballNews.com'', and ''The Commercial Appeal''. He was selected as the 2003 Mississippi Amateur Athlete of the Year by the ''Jackson Touchdown Club''. ''The Clarion-Ledger'' named him Mississippi Sportsperson of the Year. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play. He was also named to the SEC Good Works Team. Before the season, Manning was named to the 2003 preseason All-America first team by ''Lindy's'' and ''Football Action''. He was also named to the 2003 preseason All-America team.

Professional career

2004 NFL Draft

Main articles: Rivers-Manning Trade

Eli Manning was considered to be the top prospect prior to the 2004 NFL Draft. He became a target of criticism for stating that he would not sign with the San Diego Chargers, who owned the first pick in the draft, due to their recent poor record of holdouts with high-first-round picks such as Quentin Jammer and LaDainian Tomlinson. Manning's claim was proven to be justified when the Chargers' eventual first-round player, Philip Rivers, had a lengthy contract dispute with the team. In the past, players such as John Elway and Gary Zimmerman had also refused to play for teams looking to draft them. The Chargers were in discussions with several teams prior to the draft about a possible trade, but nothing was agreed upon before the draft began. Despite his stated intention not to play for them, the Chargers drafted Manning with the first overall pick in the draft. Manning refused to wear a Chargers cap for the traditional photo holding the team shirt, increasing the antipathy felt by Chargers fans. The Giants then selected N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers with the fourth overall pick in the draft, another player the Chargers had shown interest in. The two franchises were then able to work out a trade that would send Manning to the Giants for Rivers along with their 1st and 5th round picks in 2005 and a 3rd round pick in 2004. The controversy turned out to be a blessing for the Chargers, as the picks became future Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding. It also turned out to be a hex for the Giants who many experts agree that Eli had been the most over hyped player coming out of college since Tim Couch.

2004 season

Manning spent the first half of his rookie year being tutored by veteran Kurt Warner. After two tough defeats in the middle of the 2004 campaign, coach Tom Coughlin decided to start Eli against the Atlanta Falcons. Despite several poor performances, Eli finished the season with three successive solid games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Cowboys. On January 2nd, 2005 against Dallas, Eli's future trademark as a "come-from-behind" quarterback came front and center as he led the Giants to a last-minute touchdown drive to end an eight-game losing streak with a 28-24 victory.

2005 NFC East Champions

Following 2004, the Giants released Warner, and Eli was named the starter for 2005. Manning led the Giants to a 2-0 record with victories against the Cardinals and Saints, before traveling to the west coast for a test in San Diego.
Chargers fans did not forget the snub, and on September 25, 2005 when Eli and the Giants made their first trip to San Diego for a game since that draft day, the crowd booed Manning loudly every time he touched the ball. San Diego defeated the Giants, 45-23, but Eli displayed what may have been his most impressive performance of his young career, going 24-41 for 352 yards and two touchdowns.
Following his performance at San Diego, Manning returned home to throw for almost 300 yards and a career high four touchdowns against the Rams at Giants stadium in a 44-24 romp. Two games later, he led a brilliant last-minute drive against the Broncos to secure a 24-23 victory for the Giants. The drive culminated in a two yard touchdown to Amani Toomer. The following week, Manning overcame a weak first half at San Francisco to help his team to their first official road victory of the season, 24-6. Despite a poor performance at home against the Vikings, throwing four interceptions, he again led his team back to tie the game in the final minutes before Minnesota won on a late field goal.
Eli's second season, when looked at as a whole, was largely a success. He finished in the top 5 in both Passing Yards and Touchdown Passes, while quarterbacking an offense that finished 3rd in the NFL in scoring, with a total of 422 points. It was the most points the Giants have scored in a season since 1963. The Giants won the NFC East with an 11-5 record, and went to the postseason.
The one knock on Eli during his first full season was his completion percentage. Manning completed just 52.8% of his passes, leading many to harp on this area of concern. He showed the effects of going through an NFL season for the first time, as he visibly wore down late in the season. His play fell off, culminating in a bad performance in the playoffs against Carolina.

2006

Manning's second full season was reminiscent of his 2005 campaign. He started off playing well and completed over 65 percent off his passes through the first four games. However, he struggled in the second half of the season and his production fell off towards the end of the regular season. After losing a tough game to his brother Peyton and the Colts on opening day, Eli responded with the best comeback of his career. He rallied the Giants from a 24-7 deficit on route to a stunning 30-24 overtime victory over the division rival Eagles in week two. Manning threw for a career high 371 yards in the win and tossed three touchdowns including the game winner to Plaxico Burress in overtime. Following a poor team performance against Seattle, Manning and the Giants responded by winning five straight games including wins over the Redskins, Cowboys and Falcons to run their record to 6-2.
Following the winning streak, key injuries including one to receiver Amani Toomer began Manning's swoon. Against the Bears, he started well, but the offense was derailed by the loss of left tackle Luke Petigout to a broken leg, and Manning was held to only 141 yards passing and two interceptions. Petigout's loss left a gaping hole at the crucial left tackle position, and Manning was unable to repeat his first half success. He struggled the next week at Jacksonville and a costly interception helped to culminate a huge collapse at Tennessee, with the Giants losing a 21-point fourth quarter lead. Manning improved the following week against the, throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns, but the Giants lost again. Regaining momentum, he threw three touchdowns in a win at Carolina, but then stumbled badly in the final three games. He threw two interceptions against the Eagles and tallied only 73 passing yards in a game against the Saints. Although the Giants battled back to 8-8 the following week at Washington, Manning completed only 12 of 26 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. The Giants qualified for the postseason and met the Eagles again. Although he was significantly better this time around as compared to the 2005 showing, completing 16 of 27 passes and two touchdowns, the Giants lost on a last second field goal. Once again Manning's fourth quarter heroics were followed by a defensive meltdown.
For the year, Manning threw for 3,244 yards, 24 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He completed 57.7 percent of his passes, a five point improvement from 2005, but again, struggled badly in the second half of the season. With the offseason signing of running back Reuben Droughns and the potential of Brandon Jacobs leading the Giants, New York will try to take some pressure off of Eli by going back to old-school, smash-mouth football.

Preparing for 2007

Eli Manning is working overtime in the Meadowlands with Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride and Quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer. For the first time, Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey are practicing with Eli in the Meadowlands, rather than training in Miami as they had done in previous years.

Personal life

Manning is engaged to Abby McGrew, who is studying fashion in New York. They've been together since their days at Ole Miss. He currently resides in Hoboken. He is the younger brother of Peyton Manning, and Cooper Manning and the son of Archie Manning.

See also

★ History of the New York Giants (1994-present)