Living in San Diego during that past Super Bowl, and on the eve of the 2008 NFL Draft, I’ve noticed there is a real distaste for Eli Manning. In the 2004 NFL Draft, Eli encouraged much by his father, and long-time football great, Archie Manning, to reject the San Diego Charger offer. And he did. With grace and careful diction, Eli let the Chargers down easy, saying that, “San Diego is a beautiful city,” but not to play football.
Let’s go back a few years when the Chargers had a tough decision to make, and made the wrong one. The year is 1998. The choice is between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. The Charger’s chose Ryan. This decision may haunt them forever, or at least until they win a Super Bowl, and go down as the worst draft decision ever.
Hindsight is of course done with 20/20 vision. However, it didn’t take much foresight to realize you choose someone that has a legacy father, someone that football is in his veins, someone bread to be a winner…Peyton, not Ryan. If Ryan turned out to be even half the leader Peyton is today, its doubtful Chargerville would have such a dislike for Eli. Bitterness is typically bread off life’s bad choices.
Tags: 1998 Draft, 2004 Draft, 2008 Draft, Eli Manning, Manning, Peyton Manning, San Diego Chargers
April 25, 2008 at 7:18 pm
[...] NFL Primetime wrote an interesting post today on Charger Fans Dislike Eli – Should have taken PeytonHere’s a quick excerpt In the 2004 NFL Draft, Eli encouraged much by his father, and long-time football great, Archie Manning, to reject the San Diego Charger offer. And he did….Living in San Diego during that past Super Bowl, and on the eve of the 2008 NFL Draft, I’v… [...]