Don’t let New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s calm, reserved exterior fool you or you could be his next victim.
During the New York Giants’ Town Hall on Tuesday night at the Beacon Theatre, the veteran quarterback shared an entertaining story about a prank he once pulled on 2008 sixth-round pick, quarterback Andre Woodson.
After the rookie was late to organized team activities, Manning decided to scare the ever-loving you-know-what out of Woodson by pulling a prank on the unsuspecting Kentucky product.
The New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard shared the story.
Woodson showed up late to a voluntary OTA and missed the quarterback meeting. So Manning excused himself to the bathroom and cleared out Woodson’s locker, grabbed a piece of Giants stationary and wrote “come meet me in my office, bring your playbook – TC” (as in Tom Coughlin).
The prank worked so well that Woodson brought the paper to Manning and asked him what to do. Manning said I guess you should go upstairs and apologize. But when Woodson actually began walking up the stairs toward Coughlin’s office, Manning raced and grabbed his new teammate and told him it was all a gag.
“I felt bad for a little bit,” Manning said with a laugh.
What a savage. A player being told to bring their playbook and meet with the head coach usually means the end of their days with that team. Manning took full advantage of this and expertly trolled his former teammate.
The night didn’t go without Manning getting jabbed at for his age from some of his current teammates, including Golden Tate.
Manning, on stage with Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate, also took some jokes about his age gracefully. Tate, who called Manning a “Hall of Fame quarterback,” also joked that “these guys keep me young,” but pointed at Manning and said “not him.”
Manning also had some fun with the narrative that his arm strength has deteriorated.
“These guys asked me if I wanted to go out after this; I told them ‘no, I’m going to sleep,'” Manning joked. “And I can still overthrow these guys with the best of them,” he added, joking about the strength of his arm. “So they’ve got to get a little faster I think.”
Nobody has had a tougher offseason than Manning, who has had to deal with rampant criticism and doubt about his viability as a starting quarterback. It’s nice to see the future Hall of Fame signal-caller having a little fun with all the hate.
Despite being able to avoid self-created controversy and consistently giving unspectacular answers when talking to the media, Manning’s joke prowess is up there with the best of them.
Whether it’s a prank or a funny commercial, Manning has much more beneath the surface than some people give him credit for.
