ESPN just reported that Manning will sit out 2004 season....

[coonman]

Here is the story in the clarion ledger.


http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs. ... 30383/1025

[Drakeshead]

Well, you can't get much more to the point that what Mr. Cleveland just made.

[Chuckle12]

The bottom line is, use all the resources available to you and if you don't want to play for a team...don't go there. Would you just suck it up and play for a 1-15 team that doesn't know if it will even be here 5 yrs from now?

OK, let's put this in perspective. Cry about the millions of $$ all you want, but when it comes down to it, playing QB in the NFL is a JOB. Just like everyone else, they get paid to do a job (over-paid, yes, but paid none-the-less). Now, say you were trying to find a job or get promoted to a better position (which is what the draft is).

Would you:

A) take the first job available even though the company was crumbling, the president was a dumbass and it was going to be bankrupt in 3 yrs

OR

B) hold out because you are going to get a much better job offer in 10 minutes to become a leader in the company and have a legitimate chance to lead the company to the top of the Fortune 500 list.

The guy has good business sense along with good football sense and he has a brother and dad who have both been there before and are doing everything they can to advise him for his future like any good father or brother would do. You don't like the guy, fine. But don't call him an idiot just because he listens to people who have been there before, that's the smartest thing he could do. And he may be nobody in 3 yrs, but he has a lot better chance at staying out of the CFL by staying as far away from San Diego as possible.

[RedEyed Duck]

Isn't the whole purpose of the draft and the way that it is set up to give the less fortunate teams the opportunity to rebuild? I look forward to the answers on this one!

[Chuckle12]

Yes, but when they have been trying to rebuild for 8 yrs without any progress, I think the process should be null and void. Hell, even the Bengals can win a few. The new rule should be if you aren't interested in winning and you don't care whether your team wins or loses as long as you make a profit, then you go dead last. That franchise is going down the tube fast. They are not trying to build a winning team, period. They have been on the bottom for some time and pretty soon they're gonna run out of air. I wouldn't play there no matter how much money you gave me. Getting paid to lose ain't worth nuthin'.

[lower14]

[quote="RedEyed Duck"]Isn't the whole purpose of the draft and the way that it is set up to give the less fortunate teams the opportunity to rebuild? I look forward to the answers on this one![/quote]

That is the thought process behind the draft, but it still comes down to negotiations. The draft is written as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. None of the players in any draft had a vote in setting the draft up or keeping it from year-to-year, but if they want to play in the NFL, they have to adhere to these rules.

That said, there is nothing wrong with a player – any player - using any leverage he has to try to go to a team he wants to play for. It’s substantively no different than an unrestricted free agent looking for his best deal. The only real difference is that most draftees don’t have much of a choice, as they have extremely little leverage, and all negotiations are determined from a position of power/leverage.

Eli is one of those rare draftees that has that leverage. And there’s nothing wrong with him using that.

PS: And Eli didn’t score the second-highest ever on the Wonderlic test – he scored 39. Some kid scored 45 this year and there’s only been one perfect score (50) ever – some punter from Harvard about 15 years ago.

[Chuckle12]

Not 2nd highest ever...just 2nd highest this year... .

Anybody know who got the highest and what position he plays?

[RedEyed Duck]

Me being a Phillies fan, and that can be painful, this just left a bad taste in my mouth when Drew did it to us a few years back. I don't follow the NFL but I do find what is going on with Eli, very interesting.

Chuckle, I agree with you that the Chargers are almost beyond repair and seem to be making no great effort to win, but if Eli is that good he might be what could turn them around?

Oh, and does anybody really give a crap how he does on the NFL IQ test? I am sure that his score on that test does not make him a intellectual giant.

[Chuckle12]

I think the point of this whole deal is that his talents are just the opposite of what the San Diego, and Eli, needs. He is a deadly precise pocket-passer that needs to sit in the pocket and read a defense. If he is allowed the time needed to read a defense and act on it, he will pick apart a secondary all day long (similar to his brother, but more accurate). The Chargers need a line and at least 2 good recievers before they even think about a QB. They need somebody up front to protect their investment and resources for their investment to use. Eli going to SD would be a complete waste of money on SD's part and talent on Manning's part. Say he goes to SD: he gets beat up and blind-sided every 3rd down (read Drew Brees and Ryan Leaf) and ends his career after 3 years because he gets a concussion every time he gets behind the center. On top of that, his playing style would force him to throw it away or into pressure, neither of which is beneficial for winning on San Diego's part. It is a bad fit for the player and the team.

[crow]

Awright, we gotta reframe this argument a little bit. I hate whining pro athletes as much as a bunch of you do. I agree they don't realize they a making a fortune playing a game sometimes, but that's beside the point...

They are involved in job interviews right now...just like anyone else coming out of school. When they quit being an amatuer, the game changed (there is some argument that they quit being and amatuer when the left high school, but I digress.) They are now in the job market. How many people take the first job offered? Some, but not all, for sure. We all shop around and try to get the best deal with the best company with the best salary and benefits, and where we feel we will have the best chance to be successful. I have turned down jobs before because I did not want to work in a certain place or for a certain person. Just because this is sports; just because it is hyped by the media to sell airtime; and just because it is for millions of dollars, someone explain why we are arguing about Mr. Peyton and his job search.

Geez, I hope the boy finds a good job where he can feed a family!

[crow]

I really do know that it is Mr. Manning. Isn't Peyton his brother, or something?

[webbmaster]

Talk is cheap. These little cat and mouse games happen all the time between agents and GMs. This is only a big deal because he is the #1 pick and the of the Manning family is so well respected.

Until he gets drafted by the Chargers and actually "sits out," the whole thing seems kinda silly.

[Greenhead22]

It's the NFL Draft.........not the Players Coming Out of College Choosers Draft.......

The teams draft the players, not other way around. You let one person do it, then a bunch more are going to start the same bs. San Diego needed a QB and lost all those games to get the best one...............but now wants nothing to do with them.

This is a classic display of prima donnaism.............and it's pathetic.

[mottlet]

Nah...last fall's Egg Bowl was pathetic. Can't believe I went to Starkville to sit in the rain and watch that sort of booty whoopin.

mottlet

ps--ESPN just reported that the Chargers are digging in their heels. They want Eli to stay in town for ten or twelve years so they can build a franchise around him. How dumb can these guys be?? Trade down, get Rivers or Rothesburger. Why draft a kid that doesn't want to play for and says he'll sit out rather than do so?

[RedEyed Duck]

I hope they draft him just to see how it all unfolds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!