Getty Eli Manning of the New York Giants announces his retirement during a press conference
New York Giants’ two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning officially called it a career on Friday afternoon. Manning’s press conference was conducted in a similar fashion to the way his 16-year NFL career played out, memorable and honorable.
While the fact that Manning’s days on the playing field have come to an end may be bittersweet for some Giants fans, there might be a silver lining on the horizon.
Eli Manning Would Welcome Role With Giants Moving Forward
After Manning’s farewell speech at his retirement press conference, he opened the floor for media questioning. While the majority of questions thrown Manning’s way were littered with the generic questions you would get from a retirement conference, one question that firmly stuck out from a media member was one that may have shown Manning’s hand in his future plans.
Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Manning was asked whether he would be open to taking a role within the Giants organization moving forward, in which Manning stated he would welcome that.
Eli Manning says he’d be interested in a role with the #Giants going forward. John Mara has said he would welcome that. Something to watch.
John Mara Has Had Talks With Manning About Future Role
Earlier in the month, the president and co-owner of the Giants, John Mara, discussed this exact situation while he was a guest on WFAN’s Moose & Maggie.
“I’ve mentioned to him the possibility of thinking about other roles in the organization, and he’s just undecided right now,” Mara stated prior to Manning’s retirement decision. “The season just ended recently, and he needs to take some more time and think about it. And I told him there’s no time limit on that. We’ll talk whenever he’s ready to sit down and talk again.”
Mara didn’t stop there. During his conversation with Moose & Maggie, he took time to heap praise on Manning as not only a player, but a person, deeming him “the best representative of this franchise.”
“He obviously has been the best representative of this franchise maybe that we’ve ever had — both what he’s done on the field, how he conducts himself off the field, the professionalism that he shows. You can’t ask for a better representative than Eli Manning. So he’s gonna take his time and we’ll hopefully have another discussion at some point in the future.”
The exact type of role that Manning would serve in, should he decided to remain with the Giants in some capacity, is unknown at this time. However, having an educated football mind with two Super Bowls championships under his belt would be a much-welcome addition to a Giants franchise looking to kick start a new era of football in New York.
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