When the New York Giants decided to bench quarterback Eli Manning after two starts this past season in favor of rookie Daniel Jones, Giant fans wondered if and how they’d get to say goodbye to their long-time starter — especially after Jones came in and played well, securing the starting job.
But the world works in mysterious ways. Jones, as it turns out, is not as durable as Manning and in Week 13, he suffered a high ankle sprain in a loss to Green Bay.
So, the moment came for Eli to once again the reins of the Giants’ offense. He had the Giants in good position to win in their Week 14 Monday showdown in Philadelphia but, as usual, the Giants squandered a 17-3 halftime lead, losing 23-17 in overtime.
Jones could not go the next week when the Giants hosted the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Manning would get his final shot to play in front of the home crowd.
Manning took full advantage, completing 20 of 28 passes for 283 yards with two touchdowns and three picks. As the game dwindled down and the Giants nursing a three-score lead, head coach Pat Shurmur took Manning out of the game, allowing him to jog off the field to a roaring ovation.
Eli had his moment. So did the fans. The reception was apropos for the Giants’ great who gave his all for New York for 16 seasons.
“This sport has very few real farewells, but as the clock ran down on our win against the Dolphins this season, I ran to my favorite place in the stadium, the tunnel. I waved to our loyal fans and then Abby, my kids, ran out to meet me. That was my farewell and a moment I’ll cherish forever. There won’t be any more tunnel moments for me, and I’ll truly miss them,” Manning said.
Manning was asked if the chance to start that one last time at home against Miami was enough of a farewell for him.
“That was a special game and just because — you know, this sport, it’s different,” he said. “It’s different than a lot of other sports where you kind of have a farewell tour in baseball or basketball, when you kind of know you’re going to retire that season. This year, you don’t know what’s going to happen. But I think the fact that my contract was up and this was maybe going to be my last start, and to get a win in your home stadium and to have the crowd and kind of that recognition, I think there was kind of — you know, as I said, my farewell.
“I think it does help give you a little bit of closure and kind of have one last great positive memory that you can kind of remember your last game that you played was a win at home and the emotions that surrounded that. So I think it did help make this process easier.”
Manning was asked what would have happened if that game ended differently, but he wasn’t interested in discussing what ifs. What did happen is that the Giants won, the crowd gave him a thunderous ovation and his favorite people in the world were there to meet in him the tunnel.
It wasn’t a Super Bowl victory, but it certainly wasn’t a bad way to go out.
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