#Benching Eli Manning for Geno Smith: How a bad Giants season got worse

The streak, always at risk to injury, instead ended with insult.

For 13 years, Eli Manning made every start under center for the Giants. For 210 straight games, the Giants knew who would lead them on the field. Only one quarterback (Brett Favre, 297) had ever made more consecutive starts than Manning, one of only five players with multiple Super Bowl MVPs.

But one of the worst seasons in Giants history led to one of the worst moves in franchise history.

At 2-9, entering the Dec. 3, 2017 matchup with the Raiders, head coach Ben McAdoo awkwardly offered Manning the opportunity to keep his iron man streak alive, with the knowledge that he would be pulled in the second halves of games — regardless of the score — so the team could evaluate former Jets starter Geno Smith and/or rookie third round pick Davis Webb.

Manning declined.

“My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak,” Manning said then. “Like I always have, I will be ready to play if and when I am needed. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can.”

Coming off a playoff berth in his first season as head coach, McAdoo had expected Manning to lead the team to another Super Bowl.

“This is not the way it should be, but unfortunately, it’s where we are,” McAdoo said. “Our number one priority every week is to go win a game, but we owe it to the organization to get an evaluation of everybody on the roster, and that includes at the quarterback position. I’ll say it again, I have the utmost respect for Eli and everything he has done for this organization throughout his career. He is the consummate professional. He doesn’t like the position we are in, and neither do any of us. Eli has had to deal with a lot this season. Through it all, he has done everything we have asked of him in getting that unit ready to play. He has been steady, just like he has always been.”

Manning fought back tears as he spoke with the media afterwards. Countless current and former coaches and teammates erupted in anger over the clumsy handling of the decision and disrespect to one of the most important and well-liked players in Giants history.

“Surprised is not the word,” longtime Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “My sentiments are totally with Eli Manning. I love the kid. He is a class act. He is a two-time Super Bowl champ. He is the finest, most humblest young man in that locker room…..I know it’s a disappointing year but my thoughts are strictly with Eli. I’m very upset about when I heard that.”

Two-time Super Bowl champion Carl Banks spoke for the fans.

“I will say it again… He deserves better, and yet he gave his all when Better wasn’t available,” Banks tweeted. “REMEMBER THIS.. He Didn’t QUIT on his TEAM a single damn Play!! let that sink in.. HE NEVER QUIT A SINGLE PLAY!!!”

Almost immediately, co-owner John Mara regretted how the situation played out.

“I expected an emotional reaction from fans,” Mara said. “It’s been in excess of what I expected. Given what he has meant to our franchise it’s understandable. It was presented the way Ben thought it ought to be presented. Could we have done it differently? I guess you could argue that we could have.

“I had a very emotional talk with Eli on Wednesday morning. I told him I didn’t want him to go out like this. Eli’s not only a special player but a special person. To see him get emotional is difficult. To a lot of players, this is just another team, another franchise. But to him, it means something to be a New York Giant and that’s what makes this so much tougher.

“I wish I could have been here when it was all going down. I did not expect Eli to react by not saying go ahead and start the other guys. That took me by surprise. I was hoping it would turn out differently, he would continue to play a portion of the games. He didn’t want to do it that way.”

Manning, then 36, had completed 62.5 percent of his passes at the time, with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. but the Giants had the 31st-ranked scoring offense after losing Odell Beckham Jr. to injury early in the season. After the announcement, Manning began taking practice reps on the scout team for the first time since his 2004 rookie season.

The end of Manning’s streak also resulted in Smith becoming the first African-American quarterback to start a game for the Giants, the last team in the NFL to have never done so. With Manning on the sideline, Smith threw for 212 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions in a 24-17 loss to the Raiders.

Manning’s time with the Giants appeared to be ending. Speculation started that he could rejoin Coughlin in Jacksonville. Instead, Manning would start the team’s next 22 games.

Already on thin ice before Manning’s benching, McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese were fired the day after the Giants fell to 2-10. It was the Giants’ first in-season firing since 1976.

Manning finished the season as the starter, holding the role until rookie Daniel Jones replaced him for the third game of the 2019 season. On Dec. 15, Manning made his 234th — and final — start of his career.