Maybe it's shocking (pun intended), but yes, there are still some Eli Manning doubters circling the sports world as the NFL season nears. Sure he won the Super Bowl. He led his team to one of the more improbable playoff runs in recent memory. But was it that improbable? Manning has always had the tools to become an elite QB, but it wasn't until something clicked in the second half against the Bucs in the divisional round that fans actually started to wonder: could he really do it? There are many Manning apologists out there such as myself who always said "give it time" or "just give it a few years and you will see" when less patient fans were calling for him to be benched in his first couple years as a starter. Little did they know that a franchise quarterback was growing up before their very own eyes.
All he needed was a very good defense and Plaxico Burress to realize his true worth to this football team, and the rest would play out as it would. Watching Manning last year during the regular at times was disappointing. There was the utterly awful performance at Minnesota and the first half against Buffalo that nearly knocked the G-Men out of the playoffs. You want to see him succeed as a Giants fan - he says all the right things, he's a nice guy, he wanted to play for New York originally, and he always, no matter the circumstance, puts the blame on himself when the team loses, and never takes credit when they win. That's the sign of a true leader and a true quarterback.
I remember when Terry Bradshaw was interviewing Eli on the podium after accepting the MVP trophy. He could have stuck it to all the doubters and all the people including Bradshaw himself who ever said that Manning would never make it. They said he was too inconsistent and that he'd never come out of Peyton's shadow. He could have said "I told you so." But he didn't. He took the trophy with grace and thanked his teammates for the victory. The sign of a class act, and the sign of more Superbowls to come.
Keywords: New York Giants
