Eli Manning is one of the all-time great quarterbacks in NFL history. But for over two decades, the true reason why he never played for the team that drafted him has been unknown, until now.
Manning recently appeared on the “Bussin with the Boys” podcast and detailed why he refused to play for the Chargers, who were in San Diego at the time, after they drafted him first overall in 2004.
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Ahead of the 2004 draft, Manning went out to dinner in New Orleans with Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer, general manager A.J. Smith and several of the team owners.
He said this is where things went south, detailing a shouting match between the team.
“They came to work me out in New Orleans, went to dinner and there was just friction between the head coach, general manager, the owners,” Manning said.”They were all yelling, kind of like fighting. We’re at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad, he’s like, ‘We’re in New Orleans and we’re eating at a Marriott?’ He’s pissed. They are kind of bickering. It just didn’t seem there was a lot of agreement on things and [didn’t seem] they were committed to building a great winning franchise at that moment.”
The friction he spoke of was evident when the Chargers fired Schottenheimer in 2006, despite a 14-2 season.
Up until now, the belief was that Manning’s father had convinced him to avoid that Chargers. Manning went on to clear up this rumor.
“Afterwards, [my dad] took a blunt of the criticism, because he came to my defense and people were saying, ‘Oh, you played in New Orleans. All those years you didn’t win, so you’re trying to dictate where your son’s going.’ And he just kind of bit his tongue and said, ‘This is what Eli wants to do and I support him.’ And he kind of did some media to save me from doing all of the media and taking the hits.”
Despite Manning’s team telling the Chargers that he would refuse to play, they still drafted him. It didn’t take long at all for them to deal him to the New York Giants in exchange for a number of draft picks, though.
This would prove to work out for Manning, as he went on two win two Super Bowls with the Giants as part of a legendary career.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
