Giants in the Age of Eli

Giants in the Age of Eli

Giants in the Age of Eli

There is no arguing with the fact that the New York Giants have been one of the most storied franchises in professional football. Now eighty-five years old, the team remains in the top echelon of NFL teams. They have been crowned the champions of the NFL on seven occasions, and have three Super Bowl trophies to their credit. That title total is the third highest in all of the NFL, with only the Bears' nine and the Packers' twelve being above them. The team's last Super Bowl victory occurred in the wake of the 2007 campaign, and was engineered by the able quarterback Eli Manning.

A strange journey to New York

For Eli Manning, getting to New York was no easy feat. As the top prospect of the 2004 draft, there were few who believed that the Chargers would select anyone other than Eli. They did, after all, need a quarterback, and Eli was believed to be the best available. Manning then went on to complicate the selection process when he vowed that he would never play for the San Diego team. Things usually work out as they are intended, however, and the young quarterback did eventually end up going to New York - but only after the Chargers and Giants concocted a multi-layered trade and draft arrangement that involved Eli, Philip Rivers, and several draft picks. The bottom line was that Eli found a way to get to his goal: anywhere but San Diego.

Fresh blood and a fresh start

When Manning arrived in New York, the Giants had not won a Super Bowl since 1990. Worse, the franchise was still stinging from its loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2001's Super Bowl XXXV. Since that Super Bowl loss, the team had been in need of a new direction. The arrival of a new coach in 2004 coincided with the trade for Manning in what the Giants franchise hoped would be a cloning of the success that Eli's brother Peyton had been having with the Colts for more than a decade. As it turns out, the arrival of Eli did see a turnabout in the team's fortunes as they went to the playoffs in each of the next three seasons. The 2007 campaign saw them once again back in the biggest game of all, representing the NFC in Super Bowl XLII.

From underdog to champion

Super Bowl XLII, played in Arizona, saw the Giants come into the game as the odds-on favorites to lose. In fact, the undefeated New England Patriots - fresh off their run of eighteen straight games - were anticipated to win by three scores. For Eli, this was the chance to overcome all of the many comparisons that had been drawn between him and Peyton, and win the biggest game of all for himself and his team. Though they were down by four late in the game, Eli's heroic drive and touchdown throw with less than a minute left secured the Giant's seventh title by a score of seventeen to fourteen - and reminded the football world that he was far more than just Peyton's younger sibling.

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