Eli Manning was one of the best QBs to ever play for the NY Giants. While his on-field skills were indeed irrefutable, he was also known for being one of the most selfless players in the organization. Manning stayed with the Giants for the entirety of his career and always put the team over himself, a trait he finds lacking in today’s game. In 2021, the former QB appeared on a podcast and spoke about how the game has changed in a negative sense. He particularly had a problem with the attitude of current players.
While on the WHOOP podcast in 2021, Manning spoke about how football has changed over the years. He claimed that current players were following a basketball-like trend of chasing big payouts and forming super teams. The QB further insisted that high ambitions were making players selfish, as he said,
“I think it’s it’s bad for the game. And I think it’s it’s a bad look for young athletes kind of growing up that it’s very much of a ME world look at me, like going to how I’m doing I,I,I instead of we and us being a part of the team.”
Manning was adamant that current players are incorporating an individualistic style of play. According to him, they’ve stopped putting the goal of the team ahead of their personal accolades. On top of it, the QB also mentioned how a culture of stat-padding has entered football.
Players are more concerned about how much they’re being utilized on the field as compared to how much they’re contributing to the final result. This culture of focusing on stats has also brought in an emphasis on building teams based on contract payouts and not a winning formula.
However, even as Manning criticized today’s players, it is interesting to note that the QB himself was accused of being selfish with his contract during his career.
Was Eli Manning a selfish player?
While on the WHOOP Podcast, Manning portrayed himself as the true champion of selfless play. However, in reality, the QB has been accused of being a selfish and greedy player in the past. These accusations arose in 2015 after a report claimed that Eli Manning wanted to be the highest-paid player in the NFL.
Shortly after this report was released, Manning vehemently refuted the claims. He insisted that these were false reports and made it clear that being the highest-paid player in the NFL was not his goal. Instead, the QB mentioned that his team always came first, and he did not care about his paycheck as long as the Giants were winning on the field.
Well, such a mentality served Manning well as he was officially the highest-earning player in the NFL when he retired. Per CBS Sports, Eli Manning made more money on the field than any other player at the time of his retirement and brought in a total of $252.3 million simply through his football contract.
Throughout his career, Manning put his team first and played his heart out for the NY Giants. Eventually, his loyalty and perseverance paid off, and he is living proof to the next generation of players that honing your skills, playing for the team, and putting the team’s victory above yours could just be the key to being a well-paid player.