Eli Manning Reveals Trend He Picked Up from Brett Favre in 2007 NFC Championship Game
Retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning's shared football history with Hall of Famer Brett Favre, best known for his successful career with the Green Bay Packers, set the foundation of a close friendship that has continued to grow throughout the years.
On a recent weekly segment from The SiriusXM Blitz radio show with Bruce Murray and Favre, Manning, talked about the Giants missed opportunity to secure a win on the day his number was retired and of a trend he picked up from Favre that he would later use in his own career.
Manning feigned disappointment that the Giants couldn’t secure a win in Week 3 when his jersey was retired, but they were when defensive end Michael Strahan’s jersey was retired three weeks ago against the Eagles.
“Yeah, you know they did it for Strahan,” said Manning, who appears in a Monday Night Football ESPN live special, the “Manningcast,” with his brother Peyton.
“They retired Strahan’s and they got the win, so I guess he’s better liked by the players than I am. (But) I would have liked the win during that time,” Manning added.
Since his jersey retirement and the Ring of Honor induction ceremony, the Giants have produced four wins in their last ten games. At 4-9, the Giants host the Dallas Cowboys at home before taking on the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears on the road, and finishing up against the Washington Football Team at home.
As the season advances, the players will have to adapt to the cold conditions, something Manning and Favre remember from the time they went up against each other in the 2008 NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field.
With the temperature falling to minus-1 degree and the wind chill hitting minus-23 degrees, the Giants managed to secure a 23-20 overtime victory against Favre’s Packers to advance to Super Bowl XLII.
Manning remembered that evening, not just for the magnitude of the events but for the bitter cold.
“I had sleeves, I had special heat packs, and special gloves on the sideline with heat packs in them,” Manning said when asked what he wore to stay warm that night.
“I mean, for me, it’s not so much your arms getting cold; it’s when your hands get cold. If your hands get cold, you got no chance. Sometimes with your face, it’s hard to call a play. It’s like your mouth’s not moving the way it’s supposed to," Manning said.
“But if your hands get cold, I mean you’re done. I mean you can’t throw it, you can’t grip the ball and so that’s the number one priority in those cold games. Brett’s used to it. He was the first one I saw, he had the hand pouch in the jersey—that was the trendsetter right there.”
Manning, who as a child idolized Favre during his days with the Packers, shared his appreciation of what the Hall of Famer has brought to the game.
“He’s one of our favorites; he’s been so good to all of us,” Manning said of Favre, who was a guest on the Manningcast's Week 2 show.
“Growing up watching Brett Favre play for the Green Bay Packers and running around and just making throws and throwing it as hard as he could and double passes and jumping in the stadium--such great memories. I’ve been enjoying getting to know him personally over the years.”
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