Over the past two years, it’s been difficult to get a handle on Odell Beckham Jr.’s feelings for New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
On one hand, the two seemed friendly off of the field, while their connection on the field appeared electric. However, Beckham made some comments that would have seemed to refute both of those things.
At other times, Beckham would change his tune and really leave you wondering how he felt about Manning as both a player and person.
To some degree, we now know.
With Manning likely heading into his final days as a member of the Giants, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reached out to Beckham and about a dozen other former teammates of the two-time Super Bowl MVP to get their honest assessment of Eli the man.
Beckham’s immediate reaction? Laughing at the unbelievable prankster Manning is.
“Lots of memories, lots of stories, but there’s one I still laugh about sometimes,” Beckham told The Athletic. “He’d do it almost every year. He’d be around the rookies after practice and he’d start rubbing his cheek. He’d make this face like he was in pain and he’d tell them he had a toothache. He’d press down on his cheek and move his jaw like he was in serious pain. He’d be like ‘Oh, man, I just got my wisdom teeth pulled not long ago. That [expletive] is hurting. Do you ever hurt like that in your mouth? That’s painful [expletive].’
“So he’d ask a guy if he had his wisdom teeth still. And of course the rookies would, like, open wide and try to show him. And he’d take his other hand and shove the pellets from the artificial turf in their mouths.
“I still laugh about it. You’re young, this is Eli. Like, he comes up to you and you’re gonna listen. If he wants to see your teeth, you show him your teeth. Just pranks — not just that but a lot of them. He’s a character. So many good memories I had with him, but that one stands out.”
Several other former Giants also recalled Manning’s hilarious antics, but for others, what stood out most was the humble, respectful and caring person he was; the man who genuinely cared about his teammates.
“He had no diva to him, he had no ego to him. He was literally a guy that you could come to work with and leave the facility and have a beer with the guy,” Chris Snee said. “I always felt like he genuinely cared about our health, how we felt. He always asked us, at least once a week, physically how we were. He always took into account how hard our job was. He was never a guy to single anyone out or bitch about somebody else not doing their job. When you have a guy that cares about you, you play a little harder for that guy because you know he’s always thinking about you.”
Retired wide receiver Victor Cruz also recited a story he has shared many times before — receiving a phone call from Manning after signing with the Giants as an undrafted free agent, asking him to go play catch.
Fellow wide receiver Hakeem Nicks also recalled the great lengths Manning went to make those around him better.
“Eli taught me how to be a pro early, as far as studying the game,” Nicks said. “I remember I used to come in on off days for treatment because I was always nicked up. I’d come in for treatment and then I’d stick my head in the quarterback room and he’d be there on a Tuesday at like 7:30. That goes to show you how much time he’s really putting in. I would sit in with him and he taught me how to read defenses, he taught me how to understand the defenses, game plans we were running. Eli definitely played a part in me understanding the game. He was just there every day, in there putting that time in, putting that work in.”
In the end however, Manning’s former teammates will forever remember him as the person who made it a point to let them know they each mattered and weren’t just another face in the crowd.
“We got done with the meeting and everybody was going home and I was getting ready to walk out of the room and I grabbed Eli and I go, ‘Hey, Eli, I know I’m new here, I just got activated. I’m not sure if I’ll play on Sunday, but if for some reason I do and I get in on some offensive plays, if you call the play and you’re looking at me and my eyes are about the size of dinner plates, just tell me what to do. That kind of means I don’t know what to do, so just tell me and I’ll get it done,’” Bear Pascoe said. “He just started laughing and he goes, ‘No problem. I’ll take care of you, but I know that won’t happen because you’re going to know what to do.’
“That’s the type of guy he was. Whether you were a rookie or a 10-year vet, he had faith in you that you were going to get the job done. Luckily, that sort of instance never came about, so it was all good. But it was good to know that I had that confidence from the type of quarterback that Eli was at the time and the leader he was.”
For more amazing Manning stories and memories, be sure to check out the full editorial over at The Athletic.