Eli Manning’s eyes welled with tears, his lips quivering as he stood tall at his locker Tuesday. For the first time in 13 years, he was not preparing to start a game for the Giants.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP had slept on the decision Monday night, but its impact still appeared fresh on his face as he discussed coach Ben McAdoo’s announcement that Geno Smith would start over him Sunday against the Raiders.
“I don’t like it, but it’s part of football,” Manning said. “You handle it and I’ll do my job.”
The Giants, with a 2-9 record, decided it’s time for evaluation. They’ve seen enough of the 36-year-old Manning — he had made 210 consecutive starts under center, the second-longest streak for a QB in NFL history that will be broken Sunday — and will take the final five weeks of a lost season to see what the 27-year-old Smith and, eventually, the 22-year-old rookie Davis Webb can do.
McAdoo said that on Monday he offered Manning the chance to start Sunday and keep the streak alive, with a plan to start Smith in the second half, but the veteran quarterback declined.
“To go out there knowing you’re coming out, I just didn’t think — how do you prepare?” Manning said. “I thought I was just starting and playing to keep a streak alive and I didn’t think that’s the right thing. … That’s not how you play. You play to win.”
The visibly emotional Manning said this was “up there” with one of his toughest days as a Giant.
“It’s hard,” he said, trying to control his wavering voice. “Hard day to handle this, but I’ll hang in there and figure it out.”
Asked if he thought he had started his last game as a Giant, Manning simply offered, “I don’t know.”
McAdoo — who claimed this was not the end of Manning in New York — said he had to take the emotions out of the decision. He had thought about making the move over the weekend, after the Giants were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 20-10 loss to the Redskins on Thanksgiving night, and then delivered the news to Manning on Monday.
“I think a lot of Hall of Fame quarterbacks who have done a lot for a lot of teams haven’t been able to choose the way they get to move on,” McAdoo said. “I’m not saying we’re moving on, but at some point in time, you have to make tough decisions [that] are best for the franchise. That’s what I have to do here.”
The decision caught everyone in the locker room by surprise when McAdoo informed the team Tuesday afternoon, but the embroiled coach said the move had the backing of general manager Jerry Reese and owner John Mara.
“This is not a statement about anything other than we are 2-9, and we have to do what is best for the organization moving forward, and that means evaluating every position,” Reese said in a statement. “I told Eli this morning that an organization could not ask for any more in a franchise quarterback. He has been that and more. Nobody knows what the future holds, but right now, this is what we think is best for the franchise.”
The last time Manning did not start a regular-season game for the Giants was Nov. 14, 2004. Kurt Warner started that game against the Cardinals before Manning, then a rookie, took over for the long haul the following week against the Falcons.
Manning will be active Sunday as the backup quarterback.
“If you had a Mount Rushmore of not only New York Giants, but New York athletes, he’d be on it,” Webb said.
The man who holds virtually every Giants career passing record spent time Tuesday sitting down with Smith and going over the game plan for Sunday. Manning wanted to make sure the starting quarterback was comfortable in his new role.
“I know he’s hurting,” Smith said. “I’ve been through it and I wasn’t a 10-year starter. It hurt me the same way, so I know what it’s like and I know it’s tough and I just always continue to reiterate to him that I’m in his corner and I’ve said that from day one and he said the same thing to me.”
As for himself, his job and his own future, Manning let his wet eyes, trembling lips and shaky voice speak louder than anything else that was said in the Giants’ locker room on a decisive day in the franchise’s history.
“I don’t have to make sense of it,” Manning said. “This is what it is. I gotta deal with it.”