The Giants owed QB Eli Manning a "heck of a lot more respect than what they showed him" yesterday after the team decided to bench him, and for all intents and purposes, Giants President & CEO John Mara and Chair Steve Tisch just "altered the legacy of one of the greatest and most respected players in their team history," according to Art Stapleton of the Bergen RECORD. Giants coach Ben McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese are "surely going to get much of the scorn from an angry fan base currently in disbelief, but the responsibility for this one goes much higher." The logic expressed by the Giants to make such a move is "utterly mind-numbing, and reeks of not only desperation, but complete ignorance." Stapleton: "Manning deserved a heartfelt embrace." What he got instead was a "slap in the face." What Mara and Tisch did here is something that "goes against what each has always insisted is part of the fabric of the Giants: class, dignity, professionalism, respect." It is "inconceivable a drastic change such as this one went down as it did." Now the Giants have to "live with the consequences on the heels of their worst day in quite some time." If this was a calculated plan to use McAdoo and Reese as the "shield for the anticipated storm coming with Manning's departure, allowing a new regime to enter" in '18 "without having to deal with something so weighty, Mara and Tisch miscalculated the fallout" (Bergen RECORD, 11/29). ESPN.com's Jordan Raanan cites a source as saying that while there was "some uncertainty about whether it was the right thing to do, McAdoo made the final call." In the end, the Giants' brass "called it a group decision" (ESPN.com, 11/29).
POOR FORM: In Newark, Steve Politi writes the benching of Manning "speaks to utter dysfunction that has swallowed this team whole." Yesterday was just "one more piece of evidence that the team needs to clean house." Politi: "McAdoo must go. ... Reese must go" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 11/29). ESPN’s Rex Ryan said, "For such a classy organization that the Giants are supposed to be and all that, I totally think they mishandled this" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 11/29). In N.Y., Steve Serby writes Mara apparently "will sit by idly and allow this to stand." It is a "sickening betrayal of a champion who has been The Pride of the Giants." It is "never best for the franchise to treat the face of your franchise like this" (N.Y. POST, 11/29). Also in N.Y., Pat Leonard writes what made yesterday more difficult on Manning is that he was as "stunned as any of his loyal fans." Leonard: "The gut punch, though, is that there is an unmistakable feeling that everyone associated with the Giants has let Manning down with how this is ending" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/29). ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said of the Giants, “I'm sorry to say it, but Jerry Reese, you should go. After a move like this, this is an abomination. ... The Tisch and the Mara family? You should be ashamed of (yourselves)" ("First Take," ESPN, 11/29).
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said, "This just feels like it was deliberately mishandled. There's no other way to explain it. You can't handle it this poorly unless you are trying." Florio added of the decision to bench Manning, "I understand that when the time comes, it can be a little bit brutal, it can be a little bit blunt, it can be a little bit problematic. It may not be pretty, but my god, at least try to do it in a way, in some small way, that shows the proper respect to what the guy has accomplished" ("PFT," NBCSN, 11/29). NBC Sports Bay Area’s Ray Ratto said, “You don’t do that to a guy like Eli Manning who has done as much for that franchise as he has” (“The Happy Hour,” NBC Sports Bay Area, 11/28). CBS Sports Net’s Adam Schein said, “It is amazing how badly the Giants embarrassed themselves today" ("Time to Schein,” CBSSN, 11/28).
START OVER: ESPN.com's Dan Graziano wrote the Giants are a "staid and deliberate organization not given to dramatic change." Graziano: "But this? This feels a little bit seismic." At some point, the "scapegoating has to stop, and the blame has to reach the office of the man in charge of building the team." Reese should be "at the end of his run as GM, and if he's gone that likely means some major front-office and scouting department overhaul." It also means the coaching staff "is in the crosshairs" (ESPN.com, 11/28). THE MMQB's Peter King writes maybe Mara "knows what he's going to do atop the team." King: "Mara should fire McAdoo and Reese and start over with a new front office and coaching staff. ... A clean break seems smartest" (SI.com, 11/29). ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said of the team, "The Giants are lost. They're like an astronaut that is untethered and they're 180 million light years from Earth." ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser added, "That coach is gone. That GM is gone too. They're going down the hole and they'll come back up in a few years” (“PTI,” ESPN, 11/28). FS1’s Skip Bayless said, "Ownership is now desperate. For the first time maybe in the history of the franchise, they are desperate” (“Undisputed,” FS1, 11/29).
ANGER MANAGEMENT: In N.Y., Hannah Withiam notes WFAN's Mike Francesa in an eight-minute rant on his show yesterday ripped McAdoo and Reese for "turning the franchise quarterback into the scapegoat for the disastrous results of the team they built." Francesa dedicated almost as much time to "slamming McAdoo’s fruitless coaching strategies as he did to criticizing Reese’s hypocritical handling of his two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback." Francesa: "Jerry Reese’s career is built on Eli Manning! His success in those two games is the only reason that Jerry Reese has got a career here! He doesn’t have a career because of how he’s drafted here, he has a career because he won two Super Bowls, won by Eli Manning! Without that, Jerry Reese is unemployed!" (N.Y. POST, 11/29).
NEW YORK MINUTES: ESPN Radio N.Y.'s Michael Kay tweeted, "The Yankees treated a player, ARod, who was suspended for a year and threatened to sue them and the sport 1000x better than the Giants today treated an organizational icon in Eli Manning. Frankly, it is mind boggling. Mara and Tisch should be ashamed." CBS N.Y.'s Chris Wragge: "This was a heartless, gutless, classless move by an organization that has clearly lost it’s way. I’m disgusted." Actor Rob Lowe: "I don’t know what is more infuriating and inexcusable; the North Korean missile launch or Eli Manning’s benching." Actress Kate Mara, whose family owns the team, tweeted, "ELI 💔💙."
FORMER PLAYERS WEIGH IN: Social media criticism was particularly harsh from former NFLers, many of whom were previously teammates of Manning. Justin Tuck: "Lost for words. ... This decision is one of the STUPIDEST I’ve seen." Brandon Jacobs: "Eli Manning you’re always gonna be my QB." Carl Banks: "The guy who gave you EVERYTHING for better or worse NEVER missing a game and THIS how it ends?" Brandon Stokley: "All you hear is how classy the NYG organization is and then they pull a move like this." Geoff Schwartz: "I give John Mara credit for letting the coaches and front office make their own decisions. And I believe he's basically allowing the staff to fire themselves w/this decision. ... most of the outrage for the Eli situation isn't the actual benching. It's the casualness of the benching like he's a young player who hasn't earned the right to a better sendoff."
