Eli Manning left his pre-draft dinner with the Chargers with a bad taste in his mouth — and not because of the food in his hometown.
In maybe his most detailed comments ever about why he refused to play for the Chargers and essentially forced his way to the Giants in 2004, Manning said recently that he sensed dysfunction during a dinner with the Chargers’ brass.
“I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time,” Manning said on “Bussin with the Boys.” “Marty Schottenheimer was the head coach, who was awesome. Had great respect for him. But they came to work me out in New Orleans, went to dinner and there was just friction between the head coach, general manager [A.J. Smith], the owners [Spanos family]. They are all yelling — kind of like fighting.
“We are at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad like, ‘We’re in New Orleans and we’re eating at a Marriott?’ He’s like pissed. They are kind of bickering. It just didn’t seem there was a lot of agreement on things and they were committed to building a great winning franchise at that moment.”
Manning stayed pretty tight-lipped for two decades on the decision.
The Chargers ultimately drafted Manning with the No. 1 pick, which made for some awkward on-stage photos and interviews.
A short time later, the Giants drafted Philip Rivers at No. 4 and orchestrated a trade of Manning for Rivers-plus.
Eli’s father, Archie Manning, took a lot of heat for the decision because of the speculation that he wanted his son to play for a proven winner after his promising career went by the wayside with the bungling Saints.
“My parents really weren’t supportive,” Eli said. “My dad didn’t like the idea. He came to my defense and supported me after everything was going down. Afterwards, he took a blunt of a lot of the criticism. People were saying, ‘You played in New Orleans. All those years you didn’t win. So you are trying to dictate where your son is going.’ He just kind of bit his tongue and said, ‘This is what Eli wants to do.’ He kind of did some media to save me from taking all the hits.”
Let it be a fair warning for the next year: Any teams at the top of the 2027 draft who are hoping to select Arch Manning — Eli’s nephew and Archie’s grandson — should have all their representatives on the same page at the dinner table.
