An organization, which has prided itself on holding itself to the highest possible standard, has hit its lowest point this past week. The New York Giants entered this season with high hopes following the team’s 11-5 finish in the previous season. However, high expectations have been met with great disappointment as the Giants find themselves in last place in the NFC East, holding a record of 2-10.
On top of that the club fired both Head Coach Ben McAdoo and long-time General Manager Jerry Reese. These moves come as the icing on the Giants’ poorly made cake following his decision to bench longtime Giant great quarterback Eli Manning.
Although everything that could possibly have gone wrong for the Giants this season has, perhaps the most infuriating and painful event for the organization stands as the benching of Manning.
Manning has been the team’s QB since 2004, and has not missed a single start until this debacle. There is only one word for the move: embarrassing.
It is embarrassing for a team to turn its back on a player who brought New York not one but two Super Bowl rings in his time at the helm. It is embarrassing that Manning was offered to start but exit after one series of downs just to keep his consecutive start streak alive. And finally, it is flat out embarrassing that the Giants, who claim to be the class of the National Football League allowed McAdoo to attempt to lead his then 2-9 team into one more game after a stunt like this.
There is only one man to blame on the field for this catastrophe of a season, and it’s not Manning. It’s McAdoo, and he has been shown the door that Giants fans have long waited to see him walk through.
While I have put in my two cents on McAdoo, I will make this clear: the Eli Manning era in New York is as good as done, and rightfully so. His performance on the field has warranted a turn of the page on his storied time in blue. However, the issue lies in the timing and reasoning of the decision.
Manning was benched because the club wished to see other players on the field. That player who the team wanted to see was Geno Smith. Geno Smith?! The same quarterback that was chased out of New York following his disaster of a career with the Jets is the QB who you wanted to see? Again: embarrassing.
The disrespect shown towards Eli Manning has left any Giants fan sick to their stomach, including the one who penned this article. Thank you, Eli, for your time in New York, I wish us fans were the ones who had the opportunity to help you close the book on your career with the Giants, because I know we would have done so with the respect that you earned as our leader.
Good riddance, Ben McAdoo, and thank you, Eli Manning.
*Photo courtesy of Curt Johnson via flickr.com*
