Eli Manning discusses his rap career

Aug 7, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning answers questions before team practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

QB Eli Manning

August 7, 2013

Q: Did you get a lot of reaction from your commercial?

A: Yeah. It was playing a little bit in the locker room. I think a lot of the guys were surprised about it and so it got some laughs. I got some heat for it as well.

Q: What was it like watching it for the first time?

A: We had fun. Peyton and I had fun doing the skit and obviously it got a lot of laughs together… just every time we kind of looked at each other and wondered what we were doing. We got some laughs, so it was a fun day.

Q: Do you think this is going to lead into a second career?

A: No. I think I’ll stay with my day job and keep playing football for as long as possible; a one hit wonder probably.

Q: Did you have a favorite line?

A: No. It was all fun and for a few hours I just said I’ll go with the flow here and see what happens and hopefully it will turn out well and I thought it turned out well.

Q: Just one day in New Orleans?

A: Yeah. Just one day, a few hours and knocked it out pretty quickly.

Q: You were in full makeup.

A: Yeah, a lot of makeup. Just kept it on for four or five hours doing the commercial and take it off and back to normal life and try not to think about it.

Q: There were a lot of funny lines. Did you have to do a lot of takes like when you went through the painting?

A: No. The painting was a one and done. I had a couple of alternate lines we tried out, but it was pretty quick. We kind of knew the lines going in and obviously had a lot of different scenes, so we were pretty quick and we weren’t laughing. We kind of took everything pretty seriously and got it done fairly quickly.

Q: What was the best reaction from one of your teammates?

A: It’s just been funny. I guess the song is a little catchy and just a few guys going through the cafeteria line and they don’t even know I’m behind them and they’re kind of humming the song or the words. That’s it. They’re kind of just going around and just singing the song every once in a while.

Q: Have they asked you to sing it?

A: No. I haven’t sung it. They haven’t asked me, so I’m glad it hasn’t been on any team meeting or on any of the TVs. On a few phones they’ve been playing it a little bit, but I usually kind of walk out if I see it playing.

Q: What do you expect out of the first preseason game?

A: I just want to go out there and have however many series we get and just be able to run our offense efficiently, be able to run the ball, throw the ball well, make good decisions, make sure guys are in the right spots. Obviously, we’ve been practicing for a number of weeks and now go against a new defense, a new style of defense, a 3-4 team, and so just make sure everybody is on the same page or that we’re effective and we’re able to have some good drives.

Q: How can you tell that Brandon Meyers will be an integral part of your offense?

A: I think Brandon obviously had a lot of catches last year. He is smart. He is kind of learning this offense that is completely different from what he’s been used to. There are a few things, there’s some teaching points, but he’s starting to understand it. He’s starting to comprehend everything and he’s doing a good job of getting open. He is athletic. He runs good routes. He catches the ball well, so hopefully he can be a big part of this offense and get us a bunch of catches.

Q: Can you tell how things are coming along with Brandon?

A: We’ve been through this a few times with some new tight ends over the years and Brandon is working hard. You can tell he’s passionate about football and doing the right things and having a great understanding. He works hard during practice and meetings asking questions. He’s doing everything right and I think he’s done a great job so far in getting open versus our defense, making good reads, and so it’s all coming around and obviously the more times you run plays and get different looks and have different reactions and doing the right thing, you coach it up and he’ll continue to get stronger and stronger, but he’s off to a great start and looking forward to a big year from him.

Q: Can you talk about the receiving corps and how deep the team is at that position?

A: I’ve been proud of our guys at receiver. Victor has come in and had a great camp so far doing a lot of good things, but Rueben Randle… A lot of talk has been about Rueben and he’s gotten a lot of reps and has really stepped up and has great talent. Louis Murphy is another guy who we brought in this offseason and he’s done really well at route running. He’s got a lot of speed and has been catching the ball well and understanding the offense and so you can see his dedication. Obviously, Hakeem, having him back and yesterday kind of the first practice in a while… It’s good to have him in the mix getting comfortable and having him full stride. So I’ve been impressed with the receivers and I think we have a strong group of guys who practice hard, they’re focused, they’re serious about doing the right things and they’re smart and have a great understanding of what we’re trying to do and it should be good.

Q: Where has Randle made the most strides?

A: I think just kind of an understanding of our offense. He always had the natural ability. You tell him to run a go route or run a comeback and he can do those things. But now kind of understanding concepts and sometimes you’ve got to run a certain route a certain way to get someone else open and understanding zones, whether it’s man or what to do or zone or what to do. If it’s two-man versus two-zone… All the different reads and adjustments to his routes, those types of things is where he’s made strides and so I think he understands it, therefore he’s playing faster. He’s more sure of himself. I’m more confident in what he’s doing in reading his body language, so just having a better understanding of everything going on.