After nearly a decade and a half as a starting quarterback in the NFL, the New York Giants announced on Tuesday, November 28, that Eli Manning will be benched in favor of Geno Smith come Sunday's Week 13 matchup against the Raiders in Oakland.
Coming into the 2017 season the Giants had high hopes, as did many experts who predicted they'd be a playoff bound team with prospects of making a serious run for the Super Bowl title, following their strong finish in 2016. But injuries to virtually their entire receiving corp dampened those ambitions, as has atrocious play by the team's offensive line. After 12 weeks, the result has been a 2-9 record at the bottom of the NFC East division, and a weaponless Manning's third-worst quarterback rating in a decade.
Reporters caught up with the future Hall of Fame slinger within hours of the organization going public with the decision, and while he acknowledged his support for Smith as his immediate replacement, Manning was clearly shaken up. "It's hard. A hard uh, hard day getting the hang of this, but uh, you know, hang in there and figure it out," he responded when asked how he was dealing with the decision, emotionally.
Only two weeks ago, Manning eclipsed his brother Peyton for the second spot on the all-time list of consecutive games played. With 210 straight starts in the books for the 2-time Super Bowl champ, Manning trails only Brett Favre, who went 297 straight games as a starting QB.
Since the tail end of the 2004 season, when Manning began as the Giants starter, up until this week, 188 different quarterbacks have started in the NFL.
Source: YouTube
