Though vindicated by his two Super Bowl victories with the New York Giants, it’s still not clear exactly what Eli Manning had against the San Diego Chargers when he asked them not to draft him first overall in 2004.
Manning, revisiting his anti-Chargers stance after the recent NFL Draft, spoke vaguely of his rationale with Fox Sports’ Trey Wingo.
“I just didn’t know if there was a total commitment to football,” Manning said of the Chargers, never elaborating, “and I heard a lot of rumblings around the organization, so I just felt that in that position, if I had my choice, I’d rather not go there.”
The irony is many of the same San Diegans who derided Manning for rejecting the Chargers would lambaste Dean Spanos 13 years later when he and his three siblings moved the franchise to greater Los Angeles.
For sure, aspects of Chargers history raised plausible concerns circa 2004 — no playoff trips the previous eight years, quarterback Ryan Leaf’s deep struggles after going second in the ’98 draft, a franchise reputation for cheapness that went back to owners Alex Spanos and Eugene Klein — but in actuality, the Chargers were on the rise.
Playmakers on San Diego’s offense included young stars in running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates. The next five seasons brought four playoff berths.
If Manning guessed Dean Spanos would allow the tense relationship between new General Manager A.J. Smith and coach Marty Schottenheimer to devolve into a toxic brew, as would happen, he had a knack for knowing the future.
In impish Manning fashion, Eli quipped: “If I knew about the New York media and how brutal it can be, I might have just said, ‘You know what, San Diego is the right spot for me.’ ” He added: “It’s a beautiful, beautiful city. Great weather, all year round. The golf and the ocean.”
It took some sand to ask off the No. 1 pick.
“I didn’t feel totally comfortable doing it,” said the Ole Miss alum, “but I felt it was the right decision. It was my future, and I had some leverage and I decided to use it.”
Smith did a nifty judo move, drafting Manning while knowing the Giants were eager to get him.
Announced as the No. 1 pick, a glum-looking Manning pulled on a Chargers cap and held a Chargers jersey after Commissioner Paul Tagliabue coaxed him onto the stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Meantime, Smith and Giants GM Ernie Accorsi resumed trade talks.
Heading to a room behind the draft stage after doing an interview with Chargers reporters, Manning learned of the trade when a boy at the draft site ran by him while hollering, “Manning’s been traded to the Giants.”
Smith’s haul: Philip Rivers — drafted fourth by the Giants — and three draft picks, one of which became Shawne Merriman.
Rivers never missed a start with the Chargers after replacing Drew Brees, whose agent represented Manning.
Under Rivers, who went to eight Pro Bowls, the Chargers reached six Super Bowl tournaments.
Not only did Manning survive the New York microscope — which Rivers said he had no desire to endure — he showed a knack for big-game success.
His Super Bowl victories came opposite Tom Brady (who went 8-0 against Rivers-led Chargers teams). An Eli-led playoff upset of Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, then 15-1, sent Manning toward his second Super Bowl.
Of the two, Rivers was clearly the better passer. He assembled a much better career passer rating — 95.2 to 84.1 — that can’t wholly be ascribed to Manning playing home games in a notoriously windy stadium.
In the end, Manning’s power play worked out for both organizations (though the Spanoses couldn’t have enjoyed Cheryl Bosa famously declaring “We wish we pulled an Eli Manning” when contractual talks between Team Spanos and her son, Joey, went far off the rails after Bosa went third to San Diego in 2016.
For Chargers fans, the payoff included four victories in four games against Eli’s Giants.
