What Does Pat Tillman's Death Have to Do With Where Eli Manning Wants to Play???

In My Humble Opinion
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Up front, I’m a longtime New York Giants fan, and so, naturally, I’m hoping Eli Manning turns out to be great. I’m not sold on Eli, frankly. I think the Giants would’ve been better off with Rivers and their other draft picks! But be that as it may…

Eli Manning didn’t want to play for the San Diego Chargers, and let his feelings be known. Personally, If I were Eli, I’d have gone to San Diego in a heartbeat. Why play in sub-freezing temperatures in New York (and where fans are merciless when you lose) when you can play in perfect weather in a great town where sports fans are mellow? Again, be that as it may…

Eli forced a trade, so he got what he wanted. He’ll be playing for the Giants, not the Chargers. And I admit, if I were a Chargers fan, I’d be steamed. So, it doesn’t bother me that many fans and some reporters chastised Eli Manning.

What DOES baffle me is why every columnist who attacked Eli Manning dragged poor Pat Tillman into the discussion! Every column seemed to read, “Pat Tillman sacrificed his life for his country, but that sorry, whiny, selfish SOB Eli Manning refused to play for the Chargers! Shame on him!”

Am I missing something? This seems like an utter non sequitur! How does it follow that, because Pat Tillman laid down his life for his country, Eli Manning had an obligation to play for a team he didn’t want to play for???

Eli Manning had a bit of leverage, and he used it. How is that an insult to Pat Tillman’s memory???

Heck, if I had turned down a job offer I didn’t want last week, would I somehow have been spitting in the face of Pat Tillman?

Eli Manning is fair game for criticism- and in New York, rest assured, he’ll get plenty. But for crying out loud, leave Pat Tillman out of it. Business is business, and Eli has a right (as every player does) to act in his own best interests. He was not mocking Pat Tillman by doing so!

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I think the implication is that Tillman would have played where ever he ended up being drafted and been happy just to be able to make a great living playing pro football instead of acting like a little bitch. I agree that it’s a pretty weak point though.

This Charger fan hopes that Eli Manning makes Ryan Leaf look like Joe Montana.

Haj

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See, because Pat Tillman sacrificed his life for his country, and here little Eli Manning is not wanting to play in San Diego. The comparison is entirely valid.
Assuming, of course, that by valid you mean … well, off.

Pat Tillman’s life/situation/death will be used as something of a trump card for a while yet. I find it interesting, given that he’s now getting what he didn’t want at all in the first place: notoriety for what he saw as, from what I have seen so far, something vastly more useful/important/worthwhile than football. When ESPN wanted to do a story/award on him and his brother, they couldn’t get either of them for the story, so they got the third brother and some family and friends to talk about the two of them.

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Pat Tillman wanted Eli Manning to play in San Diego.

Pat Tillman wanted Jon Peter Lewis to win “American Idol.”

Pat Tillman wanted to rock ‘n’ roll all night and party every day.

All Pat Tillman wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth.

Pat Tillman wanted to let you know about a way that YOU can save up to 30 percent on your long-distance phone bill.

Pat Tillman did NOT want anchovies on his pizza – who the hell ordered anchovies?

Learn all this and more in my highly anticipated new book, “500 Things That Pat Tillman Wanted (And A Few That He Didn’t).” And, yes, Pat Tillman wanted you to shell out $29.95 for this book – he told me!

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WWPTD?

Or better yet, WWPTWEMTD?

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Ok adam, I’ll bite…

What Would Pat Tillman W:confused: Eli Manning T:confused: Do?

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D’oh!

Click submit, instantly figure it out.

Want/To :smack:

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I know! I hear plenty of people say things about how Eli should just be happy that he has the ability to play in the NFL and play for whatever team drafts him. Why can’t people realize how ridiculous this sounds? He was in the position to be drafted #1 overall because he worked for it. I would be interested to know if the people that are whining about Eli would have been willing to go work at McDonald’s when they got out of college and just been grateful for the opportunity.

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From what I hear, this sort of thing is more common than is publically known. Eli wanted his refusal to play for the Chargers kept private - however, if Marty would’ve passed on what was viewed as the best quarterback on the draft, his fans would probably eat him up. So he made Eli’s request public. Marty gets off for drafting someone other than the consensus pick, and Eli comes out looking like a little bitch.

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FWIW, I think the overreaction to this whole thing is nuts. Yes, the system is in place so the worst teams get a shot at the best players, but can the Chargers really be unhappy with the outcome? I’m a die-hard Giants fan, and I’m thrilled we have Manning, but I’ll not be in the least bit surprised if it turns out that Rivers is just as good a QB, or maybe even better. Couple that with the picks that San Diego got in the trade, and they made out damn good.

So what if Manning nudged the system a little? If he was going to be that unhappy playing for the Chargers (the whole “sit out the season and reenter the draft next year” idea notwithstanding), then why in the hell would they want him anyway?

I know if I were entering the NFL (hey, what’s with all the “dubious” icons??), I’d sure as hell try and influence where I wound up. I’m not about to blast Manning for doing the same.

It’s done, it’s over with, everyone came out ahead, get the hell over it already.