The Entire World is Furious That Eli Manning Was Benched
When news broke that the New York Giants had unceremoniously decided to bench Eli Manning for Geno Smith, the NFL world immediately reacted. Fellow quarterbacks, current and former, and other players around the league , as well as coaches and pretty much everyone spoke out, sharing their disgust with the Giants and support for Manning.
Let’s start with Eli’s own emotional reaction to the news which was hard to watch.
WATCH: Eli Manning reacts to the announcement that he will not start on Sunday pic.twitter.com/nQoPEcfTl3
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 28, 2017
Former teammate Justin Tuck did not handle the news with as much tact:
I’m honestly at a lost for words. As a person that has seen Eli the QB but also Eli the Man, I’m truly pissed about what has taking place today. This decision is one of the STUPIDEST I’ve seen in my time being asap with pro sports #noloyalty #14years #bullshit
— Justin Tuck (@JustinTuck) November 28, 2017
Michael Strahan had a lot to say in an interview with NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, including:
“I don’t think there’s any player, current or former, who thinks this is right.”
ESPN’s Steve Young was pretty blunt when asked what he would do in this situation: “I’d tell them to stick it. I’d do exactly what he did.”
Philip Rivers thinks the benching was “pathetic.”
Tom Brady called it an “unfortunate situation”.
Ben Roethlisberger thinks the Steelers would handle a similar situation with more class:
“I don’t [think they would bench], and I don’t mean to talk negatively about the Giants, especially I know the Steelers and Giants are very close and are family too,” Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “But I don’t think they would; I think they would handle it differently.”
Former teammate Tiki Barber said, “He hasn’t been the issue. It’s been everything else around him. It’s like he’s getting scapegoated & it’s a bad look right now for the Giants. Eli deserves better than this.”
Another former teammate Osi Umenyiora thinks Eli deserves better: “Eli deserves much better than that. Much better. Class person, class player. That’s absurd”
Former Giants head coach and current Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin expressed his disgust:
“He’s a class act, a two-time Super Bowl champ, one of the finest, most humble men in that locker room. … I was very upset about when I heard that.”
But the real venom came from outside of the organization, starting with actor Donald Faison:
And that was nothing compared to WFAN host Mike Franseca who absolutely tore into Ben McAdoo and the Giants organization in a an epic rant for the ages:
According to his dad, Archie, this is breaking Eli’s heart. Most Giants fans feel the same way. So does everyone else. We’ll see how long McAdoo keeps his job.
