They never expected him to beat Tom Brady and the Perfect Patriots 10 years ago, and they didn’t expect him to win that second Super Bowl over the Patriots, and now they whisper that at 36, he has begun the inevitable decline. And Eli Manning laughs at that age-old notion, and can’t wait to show the world that he has a forever young season in that relentless right arm.
“I feel I got a lot of great football ahead of me, no reason I can’t have one of my best seasons ever this year,” Manning tells The Post, “so I’m looking forward to it.”
Ben McAdoo had him on a pitch count over the summer, and by all accounts on the first day of Dallas Week, it has paid dividends.
“I feel great, I feel great, moving good, and arm feel good, and excited to go again,” Manning said.
McAdoo described his quarterback as “locked in,” and it might have been an understatement.
“I’ve had a lot of time to prepare for Dallas, really all of last week,” Manning said. “They told me, ‘Don’t even look at New England and start prepping for Dallas.’ Coach McAdoo’s told me some ideas, so I knew a decent amount of plays that might be going in today, so had a good feel for it.”
Giants GM Jerry Reese wasn’t about to let Manning’s championship window close without one last fight.
Reese got him tall targets Brandon Marshall and No. 1 draft tight end Evan Engram and a free-agent fullback (Shane Smith) and blocking tight end (Rhett Ellison) following a year when Victor Cruz wasn’t the Victor Cruz everyone longed for last season, Sterling Shepard was a rookie and Paul Perkins was a rookie, and every time McAdoo peered down at his playlist menu, JUST GIVE ODELL THE DAMN BALL screamed out at him.
“I think the fullback and multiple tight ends will help us out in keeping us different formations, different personnel, and I think that’ll help us out so teams’ll have to prepare for more things,” Manning said.
Manning has forever looked at his Big Blue glass as half full, even during those dreary seasons when most everyone else recognized that the team around him was in need of repair.
And now his Big Blue glass is bubbling over with great expectations.
Manning, behind an offensive line that terrifies Giants fans even now, never really had a chance, and failed to protect The Duke enough in the midst of too many dirty pockets.
“They’ve been together for a number of years now, I thought they’ve had a good spring, and they’ll do a great job,” Manning said.
He has a chance now.
His best chance since Super Bowl XLVI.His chance to show us he can be a Super Bowl quarterback one more time.
His chance to remind us he can be elite in the moments when elite is demanded.
One of those occasions could arrive Sunday night inside Jerry World, especially if Odell Beckham Jr., laboring on the exercise bike on Labor Day, does not get his ankle medically cleared.
“I don’t really know much about it,” Manning said. “My job’s to prepare for the upcoming game and have all the guys who are playing prepared to go, and hopefully he’s one of ’em.”
Marshall will definitely be one of them.
“Brandon and I will be on the same page, but again, that’s always a learning curve,” Manning said. “It doesn’t mean we’ll complete every pass that I throw to him, but we’ve got a lot of work and communicate all the time about different things, so I expect us to go out there and make the plays that we need to make.”
Engram is the real deal.
“Has a great football I.Q. and a great energy to him, every rep is live, so just a toughness, just a wanting-to-be-great personality,” Manning said.
He is asked if he realizes that this is the 10-year anniversary of his first Super Bowl championship.
“I do realize that,” Manning said.
“It’s all gone by very quickly.”
Nothing like that first one.
“Nothing quite like it,” Manning said. “It was a good feeling then, special memories with a lot of teammates and coaches.”
He burns for more special memories.
“I like this team — I think we got a good group of guys, guys enjoy being around each other, they’re committed, hold each other accountable,” Manning said.
“It’s a good team.”