He Wore It, Won It, And Now He's Rich E(li) Rich

(Photo by Jeff Gentner/Getty Images)

In life, they say to be careful what you wish for.

Eli Manning took it a step further in 2004, when he was originally drafted by the Chargers with the first pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. With Papa Archie at Eli’s side, the Manning brand demanded their latest quarterback prototype be showcased to the consumer via the New York Giants.

Five full seasons since his trade demands to the Giants were granted, Eli has accrued 42 wins, two division titles in the meat-grinding NFC East, a Super Bowl championship, and as of yesterday, he added the label of “NFL’s highest paid player.”

So, now the 100 million dollar question in the sporting media debates: Is he worth the money?

Are you familiar with New York City? Or are you under the spell of ether? In case your judgment is impaired, the answer is a firm yes.

The fan and media scrutiny Manning has dealt with and will continue to deal with alone, makes him worthy of the recent contract extension that guarantees $35 million—which is almost seven million less than Lions rookie Matthew Stafford is assured.

For those of you who are not from or have never lived in or around New York City during a football season, allow me to share with you a prime example of how difficult it is to please New Yorkers.

I was listening to WFAN a few years back (in fact I’m pretty sure it was the Super Bowl year) during one of those "Mike and the Mad Dog" days when fans called in as if they were on their shrinks' chair trying to figure out just who is Big Blue’s starting quarterback. I’ll never forget one caller in particular (who actually sounded educated, by the way):

Mike Francesca: Tim from Bayside you're on The Fan.

Tim: Mike, on a serious note here, you’ve been at fund-raising dinners and such and have had casual conversations with Eli, correct?

MF: Yes, I have.

Tim: Are all the tools in the shed, Mike? Seriously, cognitively, is he all there? Is there any kind of mental infirmity that you could detect?

Of course, Francesa assured the caller that Eli was all there.

But from my point of view, it was one of those moments where if I hadn’t made sense of what the whole “playing in New York” thing was all about yet, it became loud and clear from that point on. I felt embarrassed for Eli.

It’s one thing to have an unfavorable picture of yourself on the back page of every tabloid every time the Giants lost, but I never thought I’d see the day where a hopeful and committed fan base of any team begins to question the intelligence of the franchise quarterback.

And if you listened, read, and saw it long enough, you began to drink the “Eli will never take it to the next level” news that seemed to come off the media conveyor belt 24/7 during the season.

And half the reason why you started to believe it was because Manning’s own teammates began to either A.) buy into the negativity themselves or B.) contribute to the negativity; or even C.) they did both.

Former Giants running back turned NBC analyst Tiki Barber had this to say about Manning during his studio show in 2008:

"His personality hasn't been so that he can step up, make a strong statement and have people believe that it's coming from his heart. He didn't feel like his voice was going to be strong enough and it showed. Sometimes it was almost comical the way that he would say things."

Then a common public perception developed that said Giants fan-favorite Jeremy Shockey contributed in making Manning's life hell on the field of play. Some agreed Manning became a better quarterback when his emotional, outspoken—and sometimes prone to controversy—tight end missed the 2008 Super Bowl run with a broken leg.

The Manning and Shockey relationship just further symbolized the quarterback's inability to catch a break with anyone in The Big Apple. After all, a tight end is supposed to be a quarterback's best friend!

With the exception of Kurt Warner (age), if each one of the other three active Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks signed a deal similar to Eli’s tomorrow, would it be questioned?

Not a chance.

Eli Manning is the most criticized quarterback of our time not named Donovan McNabb. He throws footballs eight games a year in the windiest stadium outside of the great plains, yet still manages to put the Giants in contention for the Super Bowl every year.

If not Eli, then who?

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