First off, let’s make one thing clear: No matter how the Giants may have handled the demotion of longtime quarterback Eli Manning, they couldn’t have escaped the public backlash. The two-time Super Bowl champion was simply too revered a figure, and the franchise’s decision to bench him would invariably have been subject to second-guessing regardless of cause and circumstance.
That said, it’s also clear that the Giants went about their business in the worst possible way. They were reeling from a lost season, and they had reason to move on from Manning, whose performances at center of late left a lot to be desired. However, instead of easing in third-round pick Davis Webb, not just this season, but, more rationally, through the next two, they saw fit to accelerate their timetable by: 1) telling, out of the blue, the QB who gave them rings at the expense of the high and mighty Patriots that his time was up; and 2) tapping, in the interim, a replacement the friendly neighborhood Jets didn’t want to have a part of anymore.
For all the perceived positives Geno Smith brings, there was to be no resurrecting the Giants’ 2017 season, so it’s evident even from casual observers that the assessment of Webb’s progress was the objective. So why didn’t they go about it differently, and early enough? Instead, they wanted to have the proverbial cake, and eat it, too. They thought Manning would go along with the idea of continuing a league-leading streak of consecutive starts, only to hand off the pigskin at the end of two quarters.
Under the circumstances, Manning was right to say no. He knew the move would cheapen the value of the record, just as he knew he was being set up to deodorize a tenuous handoff. Transitions are never easy, and are hardly ever smooth. The annals of the National Football League are littered with examples of veteran stars chafing at the notion that they’re expendable, with the very ego that spurred their success preventing them from accepting their plight. Still, it’s one thing to implement a change, and quite another to do so without careful thought.
And so Manning will be leaving the limelight with bitterness he shouldn’t have, and under conditions he needn’t experience. Meanwhile, the Giants are left to justify their sullying of the rep of a surefire Hall-of-Famer, even as their immediate future will most certainly remain murky. Which is just too bad, because they — and, needless to say, the fans — deserve better. Much, much better.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
