The Draw Play

Fuck the Giants.

In my entire life as a football fan I’ve never seen a season this bad. This is the nightmare scenario made real. I’ve been mad at the franchise, I’ve disapproved of the team, but I’ve never felt the level of disdain I felt for them these past two days. I own a lot of Giants clothing, namely hoodies, jackets, and hats. I wear them constantly. It doesn’t matter how bad they are or what, I just walk around in them. Tuesday, when I got home to change into my comfy lounge clothing, I pulled one of my hoodies out of the closet and for the first time that I can ever remember, didn’t want to wear it. Tuesday was the first time I can remember ever being genuinely embarrassed to root for the team. Every rationalization I’ve ever made about ownership, coaching, general management, all of it went out the window. How dare you do Eli dirty like that you fucks.

The man has given you nothing but professionalism over the past 13 seasons. He’s never been the greatest QB of all time, but he’s gone out there every game 210 times in a row and given it his all each time. He’s never cared about padding his stats, he went out there to win, even when it made him make dumb throws and dumb mistakes. He is a franchise legend who helped bring two championships to the team, including one that is probably one of the greatest upsets and moments in sports history. He did it all with class in a media market friendly to no one. In a town critical of everything, Eli became a hero all Giants fans would stand up for. And you couldn’t even let the man finish the lost season on his own terms. When people from all over the league, from every fanbase, even people who hate him and think he’s a bad QB think that you’ve done the man dirty, you done fucked up.

Eli means so much to this franchise and this has confirmed that Mara, Reese, McAdoo, Tisch and all of the top brass are exceptionally out of touch with the fanbase. Eli is beloved. He’s a goddamn hero to us. If there is a Mt. Rushmore of Giants it’s LT, Eli, Frank Gifford, and probably Michael Strahan. The ending of Eli’s tenure as a Giant was never going to be comfortable, but this is beyond what I thought the organization would do. I never thought they’d do this. He’s not hurt. He’s playing poorly, but he’s far from the biggest problem and he’s not really holding the team back. If you want to move on from Eli, then fine. That’s understandable. But not like this. He’s earned the right to start these last 5 meaningless games, get cut, and see what the future holds. Asking Eli to start one half to keep the streak going was a bullshit gesture. Ben McAdoo doesn’t get to give Eli that choice. If Eli wants to play out the rest of this worthless year as the starter, he’s earned that much. We’d all be sad at the end, but we’d understand. We wouldn’t be furious.

Seeing what Geno Smith and Davis Webb have to offer while the season is lost also isn’t the biggest problem in a vacuum. But what’s the point of this now? If the Giants wanted to move on from Eli and see what Geno or Webb has to offer why haven’t we seen more of them before this, during some of the blowout losses? Also, Ben McAdoo has no goddamn chance of keeping his job, so what the fuck does he need to see the future for? Reese should be getting fired too, but now I’m beginning to doubt that happens. The more I see this nonsense unfold, the more Ben McAdoo feels like a different scapegoat puppet. Reese and Mara want to move on from Eli, and McAdoo is already hated, just let him appear to be the guy who decided it, make Ben fall on the sword. I hate Ben and want him gone, but I actually think Reese is the bigger fucknut in this. Mara too, for being so out of touch that he okay’d it. But really, what are we going to learn about Geno or Webb in these 5 weeks anyway? It’s not like the offense is good and is being held back by the QB play, the team is a mess. The WRs are dead. The o-line is patchwork. The run game is better now, but if this is to evaluate QBs the run game hardly matters. Geno and Webb are going to look like shit in this situation, almost any QB would. We really aren’t going to learn much about these dudes here. This should be the job of the next GM, next season.

(As a side note, I have no issue with them starting Geno instead of Webb at first. Geno is 27 and although I’ve mocked him a lot, he was indeed given a raw deal on the Jets, and might have something worth looking at still. But this is not the situation to figure that out, this is setting the guy up to fail. I feel bad for Geno too. No one wants him out there for a number of reasons. This is not how you want to get the job.)

When I was a kid and liked baseball more than football, my other favorite player was Cal Ripken, another Iron Man. I watched him end his streak on his terms. I watched what it should have been. This franchise owes Eli so much, and this is such a poor way to treat a Giants legend. I don’t know how he took the high road here, I don’t know if I could have done the same.

Eli technically has 5 games left as a Giant, and theoretically could still be here next season, but it still feels like the end of an era came Tuesday. It ended the worst possible way. I’ve bought into the whole Giants “classy” mystique we all get fed over the years, but this, the Josh Brown thing, and the now very telling ousting of Tom Coughlin have proved to me that it’s all a load of bull. Mara is just as garbage as the other owners. The franchise isn’t the class of the NFL in any way. Mara is a silver spoon buttmunch who doesn’t deserve nearly the level of respect that Wellington does. Unless the team cleans house and actually makes strides this offseason, I’ll probably start hate-watching the team more than anything. I’m in too deep to change fandoms at this point, but the level of my loyalty has been shaken. I wish Eli nothing but the very best. I’ll save the less angry thank you Eli post for the official end of his tenure as a Giant/player, because right now it’s all too much anger at the franchise. If you want more righteous indignation the latest podcast episode should go live Friday, and having recorded it already, it is 1 hour of trashing the Giants. So if you’ve ever wanted that, be sure to listen in.

Thank you, Eli. You deserved a better end than this.