Eli Manning

image!Manning-Eli.jpg
captionThe 2006 President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports
width=200
currentteamNew York Giants
currentnumber10
currentpositionQuarterback
birthdate
birthplaceNew Orleans, Louisiana
heightft=6 heightin=4
weight225
debutyear2004
debutteamNew York Giants
highlights * [[Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award]] (2003) * [[Maxwell Award]] (2003) * [[Conerly Trophy]] (2001,
2003) * [[Eli Manning#Awards and Accolades|Other awards and honors]] |college=[[Ole Miss Rebels football|Mississippi (Ole Miss)]] |draftyear=2004 |draftround=1 |draftpick=1 |pastteams=
nflMAN473170
Elisha Nelson "Eli" Manning (born January 3, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. However, a draft-day trade sent Manning to the Giants in return for the fourth overall pick Philip Rivers, a third round selection in the 2004 NFL Draft and the Giants' first- and fifth-round picks in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at University of Mississippi. He is the younger brother of Peyton Manning and Cooper Manning and the son of Archie Manning and Olivia Manning.

College career :

Prior to making his college decision, Eli received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his fathers footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.
 
During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 47 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7 (tied for sixth on the SEC career list). Manning also led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2003. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play.
 
As his senior year came to a close, Eli won many awards including the Maxwell Award as the nations best all-around player, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Award, the Sporting News Radio Socrates Award, and the SEC Player of the Year. He was also a candidate for the Heisman Trophy but voters chose Oklahoma's quarterback Jason White (1,481 voting points) to win the award. Eli had 710 voting points making him third behind White and Pittsburgh's sophomore wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.2003-2004 College Football Season Awards
 
While at the University of Mississippi, Manning was a marketing major.

Professional career :

2004 NFL Draft :

2004 Season :

Manning spent the first half of his rookie year being tutored by veteran Kurt Warner. After two tough defeats in the middle of the 2004 campaign, first year New York Giants coach Tom Coughlinhttp://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2004/01/06/coughlin040106.html decided to start Eli against the Atlanta Falcons. Despite several poor performances, Eli finished the season with three successive solid games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Cowboys. On January 2nd, 2005 against Dallas, Eli led the Giants to a last-minute touchdown drive to end an eight-game losing streak with a 28-24 victory.

2005 Season: NFC East Champions :

Following 2004, Kurt Warner voided the last year of his contracthttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1955151 and Eli was named the starter for 2005. Manning led the Giants to a 2-0 record with victories against the Cardinals and Saintshttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/giants/2005-09-20-hot-start_x.htm, before traveling to the west coast for a test in San Diego. Chargers fans did not forget the snub, and on September 25, 2005 when Eli and the Giants made their first trip to San Diego for a game since that draft day, the crowd booed Manning loudly every time he touched the ball. San Diego defeated the Giantshttp://www.giants.com/gameday/2005Week3GiantsatChargers.asp, 45-23, but Eli displayed what may have been his most impressive performance of his young career, going 24-41 for 352 yards and two touchdownshttp://www.giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=9181.
 
Following his performance at San Diego, Manning returned home to throw for almost 300 yards and a career high four touchdowns against the Rams at Giants stadium in a 44-24 romphttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=251002019. Two games later, he led a brilliant last-minute drive against the Broncos to secure a 24-23 victory for the Giantshttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=251023019. The drive culminated in a two yard touchdown to Amani Toomer with 8 seconds remaininghttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=251023019. The following week, Manning overcame a weak first half at San Francisco to help his team to their first official road victory of the season, 24-6. Despite a poor performance at home against the Vikings, throwing four interceptions, he again led his team back to tie the game in the final minutes before Minnesota won on a late field goal.
 
Eli's second season, when looked at as a whole, was largely a success. He finished in the top 5 in both Passing Yards and Touchdown Passes, while quarterbacking an offense that finished 3rd in the NFL in scoring, with a total of 422 points. It was the most points the Giants have scored in a season since 1963. The Giants won the NFC East with an 11-5 recordhttp://www.teamgiants.com/05reviews.htm, and went to the postseason.
 
The one knock on Eli during his first full season was his efficiency. Manning completed just 52.8% of his passes for a modest 6.8 yards per attempt, producing a medicore quarterback efficiency rating of 75.9 (23rd in the league), leading many to harp on this area of concern. He showed the effects of going through an NFL season for the first time, as he visibly wore down late in the season. His play fell off, culminating in a bad performance in the playoffs against Carolina.

2006 Season :

Manning's second full season was reminiscent of his 2005 campaign. He started off playing well and completed over 65 percent of his passes through the first four games. However, he struggled in the second half of the season and his production fell off towards the end of the regular season. After losing a tough game to his brother Peyton and the Colts on opening dayhttp://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/nfl/20060908-0112-fbn-giants-ratingeli.html, Eli and the Giants responded from a 24-7 4th-quarter deficit en route to a 30-24 overtime victory over the division rival Eagles in week two.http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=128825&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=55&sid=b0aa526e99d0546d163f214137dfff17 Manning threw for a career high 371 yards in the win and tossed three touchdowns including the game winner to Plaxico Burress in overtime.http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20060917021 Following a poor team performance against Seattlehttp://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20060924026, Manning and the Giants responded by winning five straight games including wins over the Redskins, Cowboys and Falcons to run their record to 6-2.http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061112/news_lz1s12biggame.html
 
Following the winning streak, key injuries including one to receiver Amani Toomer began Manning's swoon.http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/giants/2006-11-08-toomer-injury_x.htm Against the Bears, he started well, but the offense was derailed by the loss of left tackle Luke Petigout to a broken leg,http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2659628 and Manning was held to only 141 yards passing and two interceptions. Petigout's loss left a gaping hole at the crucial left tackle position, and Manning was unable to repeat his first half success. He struggled the next week at Jacksonvillehttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores106/106324/NFL702292.htm and a costly interception helped to culminate a huge collapse at Tennessee, with the Giants losing a 21-point fourth quarter lead.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/sports/football/28giants.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/M/Manning,%20Eli&oref=slogin Manning improved the following week against the, throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns, but the Giants lost again. Regaining momentum, he threw three touchdowns in a win at Carolinahttp://sports-att.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=261210029, but then stumbled badly in the final three games. He threw two interceptions against the Eagles and tallied only 73 passing yards in a game against the Saints. Although the Giants battled back to 8-8 the following week at Washington, Manning completed only 12 of 26 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. The Giants qualified for the postseason and met the Eagles again. Although he was significantly better this time around as compared to the 2005 showing, completing 16 of 27 passes and two touchdowns, the Giants lost on a last second field goal.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=270107021
 
For the year, Manning threw for 3,244 yards, 24 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=5526 He completed 57.7 percent of his passes, a five point improvement from 2005, but again, struggled badly in the second half of the season and had a medicore quarterback efficiency rating of 77.0 (18th in the league) thanks to a lackluster 6.2 yards per attempt. He was generally perceived to be a solid quarterback, but lacking the more notable success of fellow 2004 drafteees Phillip Rivers (for whom he was traded) and Ben Roethlisberger. With the offseason signing of running back Reuben Droughnshttp://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/category/nfl/2007/03/09/giants-acquire-reuben-droughns-from-browns/ and the potential of Brandon Jacobs leading the Giants, New York will try to take some pressure off of Eli by going back to old-school, smash-mouth football.

Preparing for 2007 :

Eli Manning trained in the Meadowlands with Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride and new Quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer.http://www.giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=24325 For the first time ever, Plaxico Burresshttp://www.nypost.com/seven/05092007/sports/giants/plax_arrives_to_work_out_giants_paul_schwartz.htm and Jeremy Shockeyhttp://www.nypost.com/seven/05232007/sports/giants/shockey_sure_itll_work_out_giants_steve_serby.htm practiced in the off-season with Eli to perfect their timing and chemistry, rather than training in Miami as they did in previous years.http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2007/03/20/2007-03-20_shockey_burress_noshows_at_giants_camp.html

2007 Season :

Manning opened the 2007 season with an outstanding personal performance against the Dallas Cowboys, completing 28 of 41 passing attempts for 312 yards, 4 touchdowns, and an interceptionhttp://www.nfl.com/goto?id=09000d5d80231fe5http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20070909006, but suffered a shoulder sprainhttp://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7212056http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80239d6c&template=without-video&confirm=true and was removed from the game late in the second half. Although he suited up against Green Bay in week 2 while throwing for 211 yards with one touchdown,http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=270916019 the Giants defense was helpless again and the team dropped to 0-2 with the 35-13 beating.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=270916019 Week 3 Manning got a comeback-from-behind victory as the Giants defense improved pitching a shutout in the second half and stopping the Washington Redskins on a fourth and goal situation winning 24-17.http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/gamecenter/NFL_20070923_NYG@WAS The Giants defense allowed only a FG; stopping the Eagle offense with an NFL-tying record 12 sackshttp://asp.usatoday.com/community/utils/idmap/29868982.storyhttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=270930019 against the Eagles and helped the Giants to a 16-3 victory.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21072362/ The following week, Eli overcame a dismal first half to throw for two second half scoreshttp://www.teamgiants.com/reviews/mggame5-2007.htm in a 35-24 win over their in-city rivals, the New York Jets.
 
Following two straight home victories, Manning and the Giants obtained their fourth consecutive victory with a 31-10 defeat of the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome on Monday Night Football.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/sports/football/16giants.html?ref=footballhttp://www.11alive.com/sports/article_sports.aspx?storyid=104776 Eli played well, completing 27 of 39 passes for 303 yards along with a pair of touchdowns and intereceptions.http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29283http://www.giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=26067 Behind a dominant defensive effort, the Giants improved to 5-2 the next week with a 33-15 win over the 49ers.http://www.nysun.com/article/64971 Eli played well again, throwing for two touchdowns in the effort. In week eight of the season, the NFL scheduled a Giants road game against the Miami Dolphins on October 28, 2007, in London's Wembley Stadium.http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/giants/2007-10-22-london_N.htm Manning only threw for 59 yards, but he scored the Giants' only touchdown on a 10-yard run.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21516596/ This touchdown was the first in an NFL regular season game that was played outside of North America. The Giants defeated the Dolphins, 13-10, bringing them to a 6-2 record at the mid-way point of the 2007 season.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21516596/
 
After struggling to the division rival Dallas Cowboys in week 9, New York Giants co-owner John Mara publicly questioned Eli's ability to lead the New York Giants in 2007 but more importantly in the future:
 
After a week of criticism in the New York media and being outplayed by Tony Romo, Eli had a bounce back game versus conference wildcard competitors the Detroit Lions. Eli managed to throw for 283 yards and 1 touchdown but most importantly, no interceptions in a critical road game.http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20071118008&prov=ap
 
The following week in a 41-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Eli threw four interceptions and had three of them returned for touchdowns.

Awards and Accolades :

  • 2001 Conerly Trophy - Best College Football Player in Mississippi
  • 2001 Davey O'Brien Award (finalist) - Awarded to the Nation's Top Quarterback
  • 2002 Second Team All-America - The Associated Press
  • 2003 Maxwell Award - Nation's Top Player
  • 2003 SEC Most Valuable Back - Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club
  • 2003 Conerly Trophy - Best College Football Player in Mississippi
  • 2003 Mississippi Amateur Athlete of the Year - Jackson Touchdown Club
  • 2003 Preseason All-America First Team by Lindy's and Football Action
  • 2003 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award -Awarded to the Nation's Top Quarterback
  • The Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year Award
  • First Team All-America - The All-America Foundation
  • First Team All-America - Southern Football Weekly
  • Second Team All-America - The Sporting News
  • Honorable Mention All-America - Sports Illustrated
  • SEC Offensive Player of the Year - The Associated Press and the SEC Coaches
  • SEC Player of the Year - The Commercial Appeal and the SEC Coaches
  • First Team All-SEC - The Associated Press
  • First Team All-SEC - SEC Coaches
  • All-SEC - The Chattanooga Times Free Press
  • All-SEC - CollegeFootballNews.com
  • All-SEC - The Commercial Appeal
  • Mississippi Sportsperson of the Year - The Clarion-Ledger
  • SouthEast's Top Offensive Back - Touchdown Club of Atlanta Wally Butts Award

Personal life :

References :

See also :