Eli Manning thanked just about everyone in the New York Giants’ sphere at his retirement press conference on Friday, but he wouldn’t have been a Giant had it not been for the diligence of then-general manager Ernie Accorsi.
“To Ernie Accorsi, 16 years ago, Ernie made the trade that made me a Giant for life. Thank you so much,” Manning said.
Accorsi had the fourth pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and wanted Eli in the worst way. Unfortunately, the San Diego Chargers had the first pick and selected Manning, even though they knew he had no intention of playing for them.
Accorsi took North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers with the fourth pick and then went to work with Chargers general manager A.J. Smith to hammer out a deal for Manning.
“I certainly remember the days leading up to the 2004 NFL Draft, when I was constantly in and out of Ernie Accorsi’s office,” said Giants CEO John Mara. “We were on the phone, hoping we could pull off that trade with San Diego and what a trade it turned out to be, probably the best trade in franchise history.
“Eli became the face of the franchise, Super Bowl MVP and as fine a representative as this team has ever had. Ernie, who is here today, I want to thank you for having the foresight and patience and guts to pull off that trade and help build those Super Bowl teams.”
The final deal ended up being Manning for the rights to Philip Rivers, a 2004 third round pick (No. 65 – K Nate Kaeding), a 2005 first-round pick (No. 12 – OLB Shawne Merriman) and a 2005 fifth-round pick (No. 144 – TE Jerome Collins). The 2005 fifth-round pick ended up in the hands of the Rams.
It seemed a high price to pay at the time, but over time the Giants believe they got the better end of the deal. Rivers is on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well, but never got the Chargers to the Super Bowl.
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