New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is known for a lot of things, but fiery pregame speeches and vulgar language are not among them.
However, prior to taking the field in Week 15 against the Miami Dolphins, Manning left his comfort zone a bit and delivered some pregame remarks that not only lit a fire under his teammates, but resonated throughout the locker room ultimately leading to a victory.
“What really got us going was his pregame speech,” center Jon Halapio told the New York Post. “He was just fired up, man. Just knowing this might be his last home game starting, collectively we wanted to send him out right. It was easier to do it after he gave us that pregame speech.
“Last thing he said was, ‘[expletive] it!”
Say, what? Manning dropped the F-bomb?
You’re [expletive] right he did.
“It was great,” safety Michael Thomas said. “It was one of the rallying cries, for him to break it on that, oh yeah, that set the tone for the day.”
Wide receiver Sterling Shepard almost grinned ear-to-ear when talking about Manning’s speech. “It was great,” he said.
Still, Manning doesn’t believe that’s what won the game. In fact, he doesn’t believe pregame speeches ever win a game, but he just felt like speaking up in that moment.
“You know, I don’t think a pregame speech has ever won a football game before. I still don’t think it has. I just said a little something to get them ready,” Manning told reporters after the game. “I appreciate the hard work they’ve been putting in all year. Offense, defense, everybody, they’ve been competing and they work hard. You see it in practice, and you’re just excited to give them this feeling afterwards.”
Whether Manning’s speech helped win the game or not, the Giants ultimately walked away victorious and Eli got to leave MetLife Stadium to some of the loudest cheers ever heard in the Meadowlands.
[lawrence-related id=635769,635764,635668]