Go Get Your Man(ning), Whatever the Price

In today's NFL, the court of public opinion ends up hanging many a General Manager. As a result, sometimes they don't act on their convictions because they're afraid that people won't approve. 

They're afraid of the articles and blogs that will rake them over the coals if they make a mistake, so they play it safe. But sometimes you just have to take a chance.

In the 2004 NFL draft, the Giants GM Ernie Accorsi acted on a strong conviction and orchestrated a blockbuster trade to bring Eli Manning to the New York Giants. 

It was a controversial move, to say the least, but he believed in Peyton's little brother so completely that he was willing to pay what most saw as an exorbitant price to get his man. 

Two first-round selections, a third and a fifth for a player many felt was not even the best quarterback in his draft class. A frequently voiced opinion was that Ernie had mortgaged his team's future for the name Manning. 

Five years, four playoff appearances, two division titles and one Super Bowl victory later, Eli still has his doubters. But as the Giants enter the 2009 season firmly entrenched among the league's top teams, there is little question that the price Ernie paid did not prevent the Giants from building one of the most talented rosters in the league.

It was widely assumed that the Giants franchise would suffer an enormous setback if Eli did not quickly become an elite quarterback. Many eyebrows were raised after his dreadful rookie season, and despite occasional flashes of greatness in the subsequent years, very few have ever mistaken Eli for his far more prolific older brother. 

Everything from his questionable accuracy to his on-field demeanor was placed under a microscope and many felt that Accorsi's colossal blunder would tarnish his legacy and cause the Giants to wallow in mediocrity (or worse) for years to come. 

After all, when you give up that many picks, not to mention the vast amount of money required to sign the first player taken in the draft, how could you have enough left over to compensate if he doesn't perform like a superstar?

Accorsi knew that there were no guarantees. The draft picks given up to get Eli could have been perennial Pro Bowlers, or they could have been total busts. They could have been Michael Strahan or they could have been Cedric Jones. 

Of course, there was no guarantee with Eli either, but Accorsi had a strong feeling and he had the opportunity to go get him. Having let John Elway get away earlier in his career, he was not going to make the same mistake twice. He felt that a handful of unknowns was a small price to pay for the quarterback he wanted.

Accorsi paid the price and got the quarterback he could build a team around. In building that team, he didn't overpay for past their prime veterans with household names.  Instead, he brought in young, hungry players with something to prove.

Free agents like Plaxico Burress, Antonio Pierce and Kareem McKenzie were brought in to compensate for the draft picks he didn't have. And he turned the picks he did have into future starters Corey Webster, Justin Tuck and Brandon Jacobs. 

He and his successor, Jerry Reese, continued to draft well and develop their young talent and the result five years later is one of the best and deepest rosters in the NFL.

There are still those who think that draft day trade was a mistake. They look at Eli's middling stats and his mediocre passer rating. They look at the wild success that Big Ben has had in Pittsburgh. 

They look at the gaudy stat lines of Phillip Rivers in San Diego and guys like the undrafted Tony Romo in Dallas and say "Look what the Giants could have had without giving up all those picks." 

But what Accorsi wanted was a QB who could take his team down the field on the biggest stage of all and put the ball in the end zone for the win. 

With less than three minutes remaining in Super Bowl XLII, Accorsi sat in the stands in Glendale, AZ watching as his quarterback took the field, down by four. Ernie turned to his son and said "If Eli is what we thought he was, he's got to do it now."

And the rest is history. Ernie took a big chance in the 2004 draft, and what he got was a quarterback who was exactly what Ernie thought he was.