Jul 22, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) looks for a receiver during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Eli Manning
It’s time for the GMEN HQ GIF of the day. Today, we’re going to start off this simple series featuring Eli Manning. After all he’s the leader of the New York Football Giants, and the brother to the guy the got humiliated in the Super Bowl 43-8. You know… Eli Manning. The quarterback with a million goofy faces, yet a golden arm when the heat is on against the “Greatest Boston Quarterback the World has ever known” — Tom Brady ( ~Some PATS fan, somewhere), twice, in the Super Bowl. You know, hoisting Lombardi’s 2X.
Nowadays, you have to look to the past to remember Eli’s good qualities. Why? Because the 27 interceptions he threw last year are hard to positively review. They were the worst plays in the known history of worst plays. Eli was a rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, fumbling, fumble-mcfumblester-pickasdaywillkeepthewinsawayQUARTERBACK last season.
It’s hard to celebrate that. Giants fans get it Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins fans. It was not a good year for Eli Manning. Random thought: that still doesn’t make Tony Romo clutch, he’s more of a manual/automatic loss in the playoffs. Which is pretty damn close to clutch, just without all that ever so bothersome WIN. In fact, if you go to Pro Football Reference and look up Eli Manning’s 2013 stats, it literally shows a picture of a stick figure sitting on the toilet with a bucket to puke in. Signifying the worst thing ever as told by Urban Dictionary and someone known as GreenDog7, back in 2012.
"The worst thing ever is sitting on the toilet holding a bucket to puke in.Sitting on the toilet and holding a bucket is the Worst Thing Ever!by GreenDog7 January 18, 2012"
The timing on this is important, because back then Eli Manning wasn’t throwing a BILLION “int’s”, he didn’t fumble it a duodecillion (The Most Underutilized Number In The History of Dudes, by the way) times that season. Heck, not even a month after GreenDog7 made that inspirational declaration of worst thing ever, did a person also known as the worst ‘football analyst thing ‘ever *in some regions of the football fandom* made this bold claim:
"“(Eli Manning) will never again have to answer questions, ‘Do you consider yourself an elite quarterback and in Tom Brady’s class?’ ” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said."
What kind of plays would make the often loved, often despised Chris Collinsworth gush like that? Usually little more than a first down on a Sunday afternoon. However, in this Super Bowl case concerning Eli Manning, it was plays that made one of the most eloquent people in the world claim.
“Coughlin and Manning put themselves in the discussion for the Hall of Fame,” NBC’s Bob Costas said.
If Chris and Bob are talking you up, you might be a Super Bowl winner. Heck you might even be an MVP throwing passes like these, in our GMEN HQ GIF of the day:
Credit: NFL Game Rewind (Week 2, 2012)
From that same USA Today read:
"Manning commandeered a seventh fourth-quarter comeback this season as the Giants upended the Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons. He also was MVP in Super Bowl XLII in February 2008. He finished Sunday’s game with 30 completions in 40 attempts for 296 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 103.8."
If you have a suggestion or your own Giants GIF of the day, tweet them into @gmenhq and we’ll feature you in this series. Why not? After all, FOOTBALL IS BACK.