New York Giants: Coming out of the shadow…

The Tuesday before the Super Bowl, the time that is called “media day”, and when the most madness and tidbits come out from both teams. In this post I am going to bring out my small storyline for this Super Bowl, and it will be about Eli Manning. While to listen to the madness of what everyone, which can include front office, coaches and players, has to say you need to be at Lucas Oil Stadium from noon til 1:00 p.m., for mine all you have to do is read below!

For Eli, depending on which analyst you listen to is from the best at his position or a top notch quarterback just below the great ones or just a tad below that, this game can mean a lot of things, such as being one of the few QBs to have a second Super Bowl rings. But that is something that with time others at that position can achieve and even surpass. The thing that I want to talk about is something that should the Giants’ gunslinger win this game on Sunday should never happen again: being called Peyton’s little brother.

Can all the so-called experts and people having to do with the National Football League realize that with a win the younger brother will have now his own shadow and not have to be covered by Peyton’s anymore? By all means there were time that Eli was not playing anywhere close to the level of his brother, but that time has come and gone, and now he is on the verge of winning his second Super Bowl, something that Peyton has not done, and with the news coming out of Indy, might never do (if he was to retire).

We all know that today is a freak show more than anything else, and it is happening in the house that Peyton built. All of this makes it still hard for the Giants QB to still not be thought about as himself, but if he was to win in Indianapolis, in front of his brother and the front office of the Colts, you have to believe that the “little brother” tag will be left behind on the field where the older brother has played for close to a decade and a half.

At the beginning of the season Eli was asked a question where there could be no right answer “do you believe yourself an elite quarterback”. He said yes, and many thought he was crazy, especially after the interception filled season he had just left behind. However, had he said no, the New York media would have been all over it and maybe his team mates, who all believe in him now, might not have done so. Now, with the season winding down can we say that his answer was the correct one? I would say so, and not so much from his numbers, but from watching him for the whole season, as he has been clutch when needed to the most, third downs and fourth quarters, and never blinked even when the team was 7-7 and looking like they would have joined the Jets and Bills in staying home for the post season.

Win or lose the sports media and the fans will always argue if he is an elite quarterback, but if Eli was to come out with a W in this Super Bowl I doubt that many would argue that he has finally come out from his brother’s shadow and is now no one’s little brother, at least on the playing field.