Eli Manning Responds to Odell Beckham Jr.'s Comments He Kept Giants Relevant

Eli Manning brushed aside Odell Beckham Jr.'s recent comments that argued he was the biggest reason the New York Giants continued to draw marquee prime-time games.

"I don't think they bothered me," Manning said Thursday, per Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. "You just kind of shake your head and laugh. ... I won a few games before he was here."

Now a member of the Cleveland Browns, Beckham made the case in an interview with GQ's Mark Anthony Green that he almost single-handedly helped the Giants retain a level of relevance on a national scale:

"I felt disrespected, because I felt like I was a main reason at keeping that brand alive. They were getting prime-time games, still, as a 5-and-11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That's just real rap. I'm not sitting here like, 'It's because of me.' But let's just be real. That's why we're still getting prime-time games. I felt disrespected they weren't even man enough to even sit me down to my face and tell me what's going on."

There's a level of truth in what Beckham said. The Giants made one playoff appearance since he joined the team in 2014. Despite its general mediocrity on the field, the team could count on a steady number of night games in a given year.

New York had four games start later than 8 p.m. ET in 2018. By comparison, the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots had five night games.

And Beckham was one explanation for that. He's one of the NFL's most exciting receivers, and his famous one-handed catch in 2014—which happened to occur during a Sunday night game—showed how much he could move the needle.

But the Giants will continue to be a major draw without Beckham by virtue of playing in one of the world's biggest media markets. That's why they have a Thursday night clash against the Patriots in Week 6 and Monday night matchups with the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles in Weeks 9 and 14, respectively.

As evidenced by his response, Manning has been in the NFL for too long (this will be his 16th season) to get drawn into further drama regarding Beckham. 

Especially after Beckham was sharply critical of his performance during the 2018 season, the two-time Super Bowl winner is probably happy to move on from the three-time Pro Bowl wideout as quickly as possible.