On Sunday, quarterback Eli Manning will suit up as a member of the New York Giants for the final time.
After 16 long years, Manning’s contract will come to an end and, quite possibly, his career with it. But whether or not he decides to retire, his time in blue has reached its conclusion.
Daniel Jones will be the franchise moving forward and if the Giants are lucky, he’ll be everything Manning was — both as a player and a person.
Although they’ve remained relatively quiet this season, avoiding the media at all costs, Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch could not resist the urge to issue public and emotional goodbyes to one of the best players to ever represent the franchise.
“Eli has been the consummate professional, and he is simply a genuinely good person. To be associated with Eli, who has represented our franchise as a champion on and off the field, is an honor. Our people define who we are as an organization and nobody has done that better than Eli,” Tisch told Newsday.
For Tisch, it was an honor. For Mara, a source of pride.
“Working with Eli has been an incredible experience for everyone in our building. We have been blessed to have had many great representatives of our team over the years, but no one has done it better than Eli. Both on and off the field, Eli has conducted himself in a first-class manner and as a true professional. To have had Eli as the face of our franchise for so many years is a particular source of pride for all of us,” Mara said.
Never before have the Giants been represented by a person as upstanding as Eli Manning, and perhaps they never will again. And that is less about the amazing men and women who have come and gone over the years, and much mire about Manning himself and the person he is.
From all of us in Giants Nation… Thank you, Eli.
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