Eli Manning, former Ole Miss quarterback and projected number one pick in this weekend's NFL draft. Manning's father, longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback and fellow Rebel Archie, has contacted the San Diego Chargers through Manning's agent and pressed upon them his desire not to see the Chargers select his son with their first pick overall. Archie, instead, would prefer that his son be drafted by the New York Giants, who currently posses the number four pick overall. The Giants had been attempting a trade with the Chargers over the past couple of weeks, but thus far nothing had been settled. There is no telling whether Manning's declaration will force San Diego's hand, although the Chargers' GM has stated that he will act in accordance with what's best for the team.I find this whole thing pretty distasteful, honestly, and I'd like to see the Chargers draft Eli out of nothing more than spite, then have him be a big, Leaf-esque bust. If they do opt to kowtow to the elder Manning, it may not be all that bad. There a number of fine quarterbacks on the board after Manning, including Miami of Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger, NC State's Phillip Rivers and J.P. Losman from Tulane. Further, by trading away the number one pick, the Chargers will be able to pick up several prospects, welcome news to a team hurting not only at quarterback, but wide receiver and offensive line as well.
But, honestly, all of this is beside the point. An NFL franchise, and by extension the entire NFL draft, is under seige by an overprotective father who refuses to let his son be a man. Now, I know that Archie toiled in anonymity (not to mention pain) while a member of the beleaguered Saints during the 70s, but that's no excuse for this sort of string-pulling on behalf of his youngest son. The fact of the matter is that playing in the NFL is an honor and a privlege, and not a birthright. But what's more, the fact that the Charger's are struggling is not an excuse to duck them -- it's a reason to seek them out.
There was a time when an athlete would have sought out such a challenge, atacked with gusto and been a better athlete (and a better man) for the struggle. In fact, that time is the very recent past.
Over the past few years the Texans, Lions and Bengals have all selected top college prospects with early draftpicks to be their franchise quarterback. David Carr, Joey Harrington and Carson Palmer, respectivley, all met the challenge of playing for a poor team head-on, and seemed nothing short of enthusiastic at the chance to be "the man" for a club who, in the case of Harrington and Palmer, where among the league's worst, and in Carr's case, hadn't even existed before they selected him.
I'm sure Eli will play in New York next year, it's really a matter of how much it will cost the Giants, in terms of draft picks, at this point. But to see such an overt display of athletes getting their way through whining -- and to see it come as a result of (rather than in spite of) a parent's actions, is more than a little disheartening. Rather than showing Eli the opportunities a challenge like playing for the Chargers presents, he is behaving like so many other parents who over-indulge their children. Instead of teaching their children how to overcome obstacles, most parents these days, like Eli's dad, are busy getting estimates on what it would cost to carpet the entire world.
Tony
