Ask J-Dub – Episode 8 – The “All Manning, All The Time Edition”
This has been such a fun week in the world of sports that we decided it was time to revisit the mailbag here at Dubsism World Headquarters. Well, let’s be a bit more honest about that. Now that college football regular season is over, J-Dub gets his focus back to writing rather than being a degenerate gambler. To be even more honest, with some of the bizarre happenings of this past week, we’ve received some seriously interesting questions. That isn’t to say we don’t always some interesting stuff in our inbox; today’s episode reflects that.
So no matter what, keep those emails and comments coming; you never know when we’ll use yours.
Question #1:
Dear J-Dub,
I don’t buy most of what I’m hearing about why the Giants benched Eli Manning. What do you think is the real deal?
~Passaic Aggresive
I know there’s a fan outcry over this, and that’s been reflected in the lame-stream sports media. Of course, since we weren’t in the room when the decision was made, we don’t know with certainty what actually happened. What we do know is the usual noise coming from know-nothing sports media types and even more know-nothing sports-radio callers obfuscates two plausible scenarios.
As you read these keep in mind that Manning is 36 years old and is in his 14th season as an NFL quarterback, which no matter what you want to believe about him, he is the definition of a “high-mileage car.”
1) Eli wanted to get benched.
At first this might seem bit far-fetched, but think about it. Manning has been getting the living shit beaten out of him for the better part of the last three (at least) seasons as the once vaunted Giants offensive line has become a moss-covered pile of eroded stones. At age 36, Manning career doesn’t likely have enough days left waiting for a new dawn of Giants football. What if he woke up the other day and said “screw this, I’m done here.”
The media narrative about his consecutive games-played streak capped with his “fighting back the tears” press conference held in front of his locker is what tipped me to this possibility. I think there’s a lot of signs pointing to a general house cleaning coming for the Giants. Raise your hand if you think head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese are going to be filling out those change-of-address cards at the post office come January.
Given all that, why isn’t this scenario plausible? Manning went to owner John Mara and said something like “I’m too fucking old to keep peeling myself off the turf looking out of my ear-hole. Bench me before this alleged offensive line gets me killed, and I’ll make it worth your while in terms waving my “no-trade” clause come the off-season. Sure, it will create the proverbial media fire-storm, but that will blow over and McAdoo is a tailor-made fall guy because he’s about as well-liked as paper cuts and jury duty combined.”
2) There’s a badly-executed, but quasi-sensible business decision in play.
- Fact: The New York Giants are in desperate need of a rebuild.
- Fact: Eli Manning is near the end of his career.
- Fact: Eli Manning has a gigantic contract.
Let’s say scenario #1 is completely wrong. Even if it is, there’s those pesky three facts I just mentioned. You don’t need the supercomputer to figure out that Eli’s age and his contract stand as a Jumbo Elliott-sized obstacle to any rebuilding project. Let’s say the benching wasn’t offered by Manning; it was imposed as a ploy to force a waving of his no-trade clause.
The question then becomes why would the Giants wait until after the NFL trade deadline to make such a move? The answer is they have no intention of trading him until the off-season; the deadline the Giants are working with comes on the third day of the new NFL year which starts in March. If Manning is still on the Giants’ roster on that day, he is owed a $5 million roster bonus. Obviously the goal would be to move him before that, but finding a suitable deal partner is going to depend completely on the draft order and which team out there believes they are a veteran quarterback away from winning.
That’s why there were rumors before the deadline about a potential deal sending Eli to Jacksonville, but there was the matter of that pesky no-trade clause. But once we know the draft order, and we know where those “just need a quarterback” team fall, then the deal picture for Manning gets clearer.
This leads to the next question from the mailbag.
Question #2:
Dear J-Dub,
What do you think the future holds for Eli Manning?
~Keeping my Manning Jersey in Jersey City
There two possibilities here. The first is he retires. There is a full sub-set of options should he choose that path ranging from a career in broadcasting to simply riding off into the sunset.
However, I think Manning still wants to play; he has his eyes on what his brother did… a late-career change-of address looking to pick up another Super Bowl title. That’s why the trade to the “winning ready” team is what I think is driving all of this. If I’m correct, it begs the question…Which team?
Feel free to discuss all Manning’s potential suitors amongst yourselves, but there’s one possibility which has so much more intrigue than any other.
I’ll sum it up in five words: Eli Manning…New York Jet.
Just let that sink in for minute. Even if you don’t think the Jets are a “winning-ready team”…that’s a debate for another time…consider all the great story lines in play here.
- The possibility of Eli taking back the Manning family “bragging rights” for Super Bowl wins.
- A resurgence of a Jets team nudging up on 50 years of futility led by the last Giants’ quarterback to be on the field for multiple NFL Championship/Super Bowls since Y. A. Tittle.
- The addition of Eli Manning the the rivalry between the Jets and the New England Patriots would be just like tossing an alkali metal into a fish-tank.
The real chemistry looks like this: {2K (s) + 2H2O (l) → 2KOH (aq) + H2 (g)}. The NFL chemistry is two teams with fan bases in cities who hate each other adding a New York quarterback who cost the Boston team two Super Bowls = A super-hot mess. But how much fun could that be?
Go ahead and keep your Manning Jersey, Jersey.
Question #3:
Dear J-Dub,
If Eli Manning never plays again, is he a Hall of Famer?
~ New York Dave
In a word, yes. I’m sure there’s plenty of “stat quoters” who can give you all sorts of “pro” or “con” arguments, but those really are a waste of time. Here’s the bottom line: Manning is a two-time Super Bowl MVP who did that in New York and by twice beating the greatest dynasty of his era. Oh, by the way, when the Giants benched him the other day, the sports media covered it like the Pope had just died. Given the fact the Hall of Fame election process is a popularity contest dominated by writers, the media coverage this week pretty much told you how that vote is going to shake out. They are just vacuuming the carpet and getting the velvet ropes ready for the Manning section of the Hall of Fame.
Question #4:
Dear J-Dub,
Why has there been no mention of Peyton Manning for the University of Tennessee coaching job?
~Afraid to Tell You I’m A Colts Fan
Here’s another question with multiple plausible possibilities. Pick which one you like.
1) He’s already “out-monied” himself for that kind of job.
Jimbo Fisher just got the biggest deal in history for a college football coach valued at $75 million over ten years. Peyton Manning has that kind of money in the cushions of his couch. From his endorsement deals with Papa John’s, Buick, and Nationwide Insurance, all Manning has to do to make more than Fisher is walk down the driveway to his mailbox.
2) It’s the wrong kind of job.
If Peyton Manning were to take a job in college football, he seems more like a guy who would rather be an athletic director and/or some other type of executive. Now that his old coach Phil Fulmer is the athletic director at Tennessee, I could see some sort of “special advisor to the AD” position, but I just don’t see Peyton going through the rigors of not only being a big-time college football coach, but having to clean up a decade worth of mediocrity or worse.
3) He’s already connected to better rumors in Tennessee.
While it’s true the head coach of an SEC school is easily the most famous guy in town, Manning is already connected to scuttlebutt which trumps that. Manning is reported to be connected to a group looking to purchase the Tennessee Titans and there is talk of Manning making a potential run for the U.S. Senate.
For purposes of full disclosure, we’re pretty sure Eli isn’t a drunk and Peyton probably isn’t a Nazi.
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