EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — One day last week, a visitor walking by the weight room at the Giants’ practice facility could look through the glass windows and see Eli Manning, in a gray T-shirt, slowly and deliberately doing bicep curls with medium-sized dumbbells. Half a room away, offensive lineman Chris Snee was also lifting weights — with a barbell that looked to be sagging from all the pounds plated at each end.
The scene was a visual reminder of an oddity in football terminology: Manning, as the Giants’ quarterback, is the only player on the team who regularly has his “arm strength” scrutinized. But when it comes to the football version of the term, a player’s, well, arm strength, actually matters little, if at all.
li Manning is 31 years old, and this is his eighth NFL season, yet his apologists are still talking about his potential. They may be right—Eli may have the potential to be as good or better than Aaron Rodgers (who will probably be voted this season's MVP and whose Packers Eli's Giants defeated last Sunday, 37-20), Tom Brady (who has won three Super Bowls and who Eli may be facing in this year's big game), or his brother, Peyton, in whose shadow he has played for much of his career. He may be as good or better than all of them, particularly if he continues to perform as he has down the stretch in the last few New York victories. But all other quarterbacks in NFL history who reached the stature of elite did it well before they turned 30. When Tom Brady and Peyton Manning turned 30, people weren't talking about their potential, they were talking about what they had already accomplished.
The current issue of Sports Illustrated has a story by Damon Hack: "Eli As An Elite." The subhead pretty much sums up the sports media's attitude towards him right now: "Quarterback Eli Manning has put to rest all questions of his leadership and clutch ability, outgunning the Packers' Aaron Rodgers to lead the Giants to their second NFC title game appearance in five seasons.
The scene was a visual reminder of an oddity in football terminology: Manning, as the Giants’ quarterback, is the only player on the team who regularly has his “arm strength” scrutinized. But when it comes to the football version of the term, a player’s, well, arm strength, actually matters little, if at all.
li Manning is 31 years old, and this is his eighth NFL season, yet his apologists are still talking about his potential. They may be right—Eli may have the potential to be as good or better than Aaron Rodgers (who will probably be voted this season's MVP and whose Packers Eli's Giants defeated last Sunday, 37-20), Tom Brady (who has won three Super Bowls and who Eli may be facing in this year's big game), or his brother, Peyton, in whose shadow he has played for much of his career. He may be as good or better than all of them, particularly if he continues to perform as he has down the stretch in the last few New York victories. But all other quarterbacks in NFL history who reached the stature of elite did it well before they turned 30. When Tom Brady and Peyton Manning turned 30, people weren't talking about their potential, they were talking about what they had already accomplished.
The current issue of Sports Illustrated has a story by Damon Hack: "Eli As An Elite." The subhead pretty much sums up the sports media's attitude towards him right now: "Quarterback Eli Manning has put to rest all questions of his leadership and clutch ability, outgunning the Packers' Aaron Rodgers to lead the Giants to their second NFC title game appearance in five seasons.
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