In court documents filed Tuesday, a "smoking gun email" from Giants QB Eli Manning "proves he quarterbacked a conspiracy to defraud collectors by pawning off phony game-worn gear" as real memorabilia, according to Whitehouse & Golding of the N.Y. POST. Manning, who has a contract with memorabilia company Steiner Sports, "instructed a team manager to get the bogus equipment so it could be sold off as authentic." Manning wrote to equipment manager Joe Skiba from a BlackBerry on April 27, 2010, "2 helmets that can pass as game used. That is it. Eli." Less than 20 minutes later, Manning "wrote to his marketing agent, Alan Zucker, who requested the helmets, saying: 'Should be able to get them for tomorrow.'” The emails were filed in New Jersey’s Bergen County Superior Court by "three memorabilia collectors who are pressing a civil racketeering suit against the Giants, Manning, Skiba, Steiner and others," including President & CEO John Mara. The filing also alleges the Giants "failed to produce the Manning-Skiba emails." On Thursday, plaintiffs’ lawyer Brian Brook said it "appears to be the case that someone at the Giants organization deleted" those emails, as well as another, previously disclosed '08 exchange (N.Y. POST, 4/14). ESPN.com's Rovell & Raanan note the suit, first filed by collectors Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown "three years ago," alleges that the Giants were "complicit by deleting" the '10 email. The lawsuit "claims other allegedly fake items included ones described as game-used from Manning" and former Giants players Osi Umenyiora and Tiki Barber. It is "not likely that Manning, the Giants or their employees would be subject to criminal prosecution as the alleged actions in question have passed the federal five-year statute of limitations" (ESPN.com, 4/14). FS1’s Shannon Sharpe said, “This would be a very slippery slope if the NFL were to get involved in this. … I don't think the NFL should be involved” (“Undisputed,” FS1, 4/14).
BIG BLUE PROBLEM: On Long Island, Tom Rock notes attorneys for the Giants "dispute the idea" that the emails "provide a smoking gun." Giants spokesperson Karen Kessler said, "The email, taken out of context, was shared with the media by an unscrupulous memorabilia dealer and his counsel who for years has been seeking to leverage a big payday" (NEWSDAY, 4/14). SI.com's Michael McCann notes the equipment is "fundamentally the same whether it was used in a game or not." But that thinking "ignores the importance of memorabilia categorization and the damage that can be done to a collector’s reputation if he or she is viewed as selling fraudulent goods." A “game used” or “game worn” jersey "means something altogether different from a 'game issued' jersey or an 'authentic' jersey" (SI.com, 4/14).
SAY IT AIN'T SO: In N.Y., Gary Myers writes under the header, "Eli Manning's Clean Image In Jeopardy Amid Memorabilia Scandal." For his 13 years in the NFL, Manning has "managed to stay out of trouble." He has been "one of the most well-known and visible New York athletes yet lived the life of a quiet family man who happens to have a high profile job on Sundays." But "now there’s Eli-gate" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/14). FS1's Skip Bayless said, "Is this potentially going to tarnish the squeaky-clean image of one Eli Manning? Yeah, I think it’s got potential." Bayless: "This was a cesspool inside a proud franchise. … What a terrible look for the National Football League"(“Undisputed,” FS1, 4/14).
