JOHN MARA REMINISCES ABOUT PICKING ELI OVER BEN

[RoanokeFan]

JOHN MARA REMINISCES ABOUT PICKING ELI OVER BEN

"John Mara remembers the Giants organization being torn on who
to take days before the 2004 NFL Draft.

Eli Manning
or Ben Roethlisberger?

We all know what has happened
since. But it is always fun to look back and Mara fondly reminisced about
trading for Manning on WFAN radio on Tuesday.

"We went right to the last
day or two before the draft trying to decide between Eli and Ben Roethlisberger,
who obviously has been a great NFL quarterback as well," Mara said. "They both
have been brilliant. Really, the decision came down to one guy played in the
SEC, the best conference in the country, and the other guy played at Miami of
Ohio against obviously lesser competition."

"Also, [Manning] was on a
team at Ole Miss that didn't have a tremendous amount of talent and he kind of
carried that team on his shoulder," Mara added. "We felt he was the better pick
for us, but obviously either way they both ended up being great players."


Mara also recounted how his father, Wellington Mara,
wasn't keen on paying such a high price to get Manning, who was taken first
overall by the Chargers. Wellington Mara had a soft spot for Kerry
Collins but the Giants ended up trading Philip Rivers
(taken fourth overall), their 2004 third-round pick and 2005 first and
fifth-round picks.

"It was not an easy decision," Mara said. "It was one
that even my father was against initially because he had such a strong feeling
for Kerry Collins, who had played so well for us and kind of resurrected his
career. I just felt like and Ernie Accorsi felt strongly also
that this guy had a rare talent and was worth taking a chance on."

Mara
admits he had some doubts early on when Manning struggled.

"I will tell
you there were times where I had some doubts," the Giants president and CEO
said. "I can remember so vividly the first minicamp practice that Eli was here
for. He just had a terrible day throwing the ball in a windy practice field out
here. It was going all over the place and he was surrounded by media and
cameras."

"I remember thinking to myself, I hope it gets better than
this," Mara added. "Because we just gave up half the franchise to get this guy
and he is throwing the ball all over the place."

Mara chuckled as he
recounted that. It's fun for the Giants to look back on everything seeing how it
all turned out.

"It really wasn’t until the second half of the '04
season when he got into the games [and] he really struggled at first," Mara
said. "And then we had that final game of the '04 season when we beat Dallas at
home and he takes us down the field at the end of the game to win and that just
sort of kicked off his career for us."

"He certainly has had some ups
and downs since then," Mara added. "But I will take my chances with the ball in
his hand at the end the game every day."

[GMENAGAIN]

Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers? Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>

[Morehead State]

[quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers? Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand. We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him. We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>

[GMENAGAIN]

[quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers? Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand. We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him. We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>


[/quote]</P>


That's the thing that's always seemed fishy . . . . if we had no talks with SD, how did we know that SD loved Rivers? </P>

[Morehead State]

[quote user="GMENAGAIN"][quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers? Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand. We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him. We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>


[/quote]</P>


That's the thing that's always seemed fishy . . . . if we had no talks with SD, how did we know that SD loved Rivers? </P>


[/quote]</P>


I guess a lot of these GM's know who others like. I also suppose they would have been happy with Rivers as well. He did win a lot of big games in college. (and turned out to be a great pro). </P>


Those three guys represented a great QB first round. Best since the famous 83 draft.</P>

[G-G-GMen420]

[quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"][quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers?* Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand.* We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him.* We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>


[/quote]</P>


That's the thing that's always seemed fishy . . . . if we had no talks with SD, how did we know that SD loved Rivers?* </P>


[/quote]</P>


I guess a lot of these GM's know who others like.* I also suppose they would have been happy with Rivers as well.* He did win a lot of big games in college.* (and turned out to be a great pro).* </P>


Those three guys represented a great QB first round.* Best since the famous 83 draft.</P>[/quote]
I was always under the impression that the trade was done before the pic and the chargers told us to draft Rivers over Ben
That's who they wanted

[jakegibbs]

[quote user="GMENAGAIN"][quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers?* Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand.* We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him.* We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>


[/quote]</P>


That's the thing that's always seemed fishy . . . . if we had no talks with SD, how did we know that SD loved Rivers?* </P>[/quote]

SD knew that Eli wasn't going to play for them & Rivers was the runner up selection. Better to have 2nds than nothing I guess.

[sg92]

So glad we got Eli. While he and Ben have both had great (possibly Hall of Fame) careers on the field, Eli is the better person by far, and will be a good ambassador for the team.

[Morehead State]

[quote user="jakegibbs"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"][quote user="Morehead State"][quote user="GMENAGAIN"]


Has it ever been reported how the Giants came to pick Rivers? Were trade talks ongoing with the Chargers and the Chargers said that they preferred Rivers over Ben?</P>


Just don't remember how that aspect played out . . . . . </P>


[/quote]</P>


As I remember we didn't have any talks beforehand. We picked Rivers because we knew that SD loved him. We picked him just to use to get Eli.</P>


[/quote]</P>


That's the thing that's always seemed fishy . . . . if we had no talks with SD, how did we know that SD loved Rivers? </P>


[/quote] SD knew that Eli wasn't going to play for them &amp; Rivers was the runner up selection. Better to have 2nds than nothing I guess.[/quote]</P>


They wanted Rivers over Eli. They drafted Eli because they knew we wanted him and would probably give up the store for him. Which we did. Plus there was some egos at work. Eli wasn't going to tell them not to draft him.</P>


A lot of factors at play there. In the end, everyone got what they wanted.</P>

[Roosevelt]

I wasn't aware John was a hater.