In Week 10 of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers will host the New York Giants. Without a doubt, this is the most formidable opponent the 49ers have faced this season, and also the most talked-about.
The New York Giants are one of the oldest teams in the NFL, founded in 1925. They have witnessed the rise and fall of football on the North American continent and have left a rich and glorious history of their own. More importantly, they are a team from New York, a city at the pinnacle of the world, and every move they make attracts countless eyes.
There's no need to elaborate on the city of New York because its history is endless. Just the sports section alone could fill a book: the rivalries between the New York Yankees and New York Mets have spanned the history of baseball, while the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are major talking points in the basketball world.
On the football field, New York also has two teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets. Both teams have a long history. Since the founding of the NFL, they have been indispensable members of the league, playing important roles and both having glorious pasts, including winning Super Bowls.
The New York Giants are in the NFC East, along with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins. In the entire league, this is one of the oldest, most complex, and most intense divisions, second only to the NFC North led by the Green Bay Packers. Even in such a fiercely competitive division, the Giants have been one of the most outstanding teams over the last thirty years.
Before the Super Bowl era, the Giants won the league championship four times. Since the Super Bowl era began, they have won the Super Bowl three times, and their number of division titles is even more impressive.
In the 21st century, the Giants' strength remains considerable. They have made it to the playoffs six times and won the Super Bowl in the 2007 season. Compared to their three fierce rivals in the division, the Giants' record is undoubtedly far superior.
Unfortunately, after their back-to-back explosive seasons in 2007 and 2008, the Giants entered a painful period of transition over the past two seasons. Their performance has been inconsistent, with an 8-8 record in 2009 and 10-6 in 2010. While these records were good, they missed the playoffs due to an inferior record within the division.
Despite this, no one can deny that the Giants are a force to be reckoned with in the league, not only because of their accumulated record over the past five or ten years, but also because they have an excellent quarterback, Eli Manning.
The Manning family is an incredibly important traditional football family in the NFL. It all started with Archie Manning, an excellent quarterback in the 1970s who played for fourteen seasons and left his mark on history.
In college, Archie was an outstanding player, excelling in both football and baseball and attracting the attention of scouts. In the end, Archie chose football. The 1971 draft was considered a great year for quarterbacks, with at least four players worthy of a first-round pick, making the competition incredibly fierce. The team that would later become the New England Patriots, then the Boston Patriots, held the first overall pick and selected Jim Plunkett, a quarterback from Stanford University. The New Orleans Saints, a team that had only been founded five years prior, used the second overall pick to select Archie.
Unfortunately, the Saints, as a new team in the 1970s, had a chaotic organizational structure and could never find a winning formula. Archie almost single-handedly carried the team on his shoulders but was ultimately fighting a losing battle. After twelve years with the Saints, Archie was traded to the Houston Oilers and then the Minnesota Vikings before retiring.
Archie's lifelong regret was never winning a Super Bowl, but he remains an important figure in Saints' history. He was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame, and later, the University of Mississippi retired his number 18 jersey. As a quarterback, Archie's abilities and talent were unquestionable; he simply didn't find the right opportunity.
After getting married, Archie had three sons: Cooper Manning, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning. Cooper and Peyton are only two years apart, while Eli is a full five years younger than Peyton.
All three sons followed in their father's footsteps and entered the world of football. Cooper was a wide receiver, and Peyton was a quarterback. Eli, five years younger, later also followed his father and older brother to become a quarterback.
Due to their similar ages, Cooper and Peyton went through high school together. The Manning duo was a fearsome combination on the field. Cooper's excellent hands and Peyton's outstanding passing sense were unparalleled in high school. The brothers' chemistry was at its peak, and in Peyton's sophomore year, they led their team to a 9-1 record for the season, attracting a lot of attention.
Cooper and Peyton also agreed to go to college together and continue to dominate the field before entering the professional league and making their mark. But fate had other plans. After entering college, Cooper discovered he was unconsciously dropping balls. After a hospital examination, he was diagnosed with congenital spinal stenosis, which could lead to paralysis or even be life-threatening. With no other choice, Cooper's football career ended there.
After going through the darkest period of his life, Cooper encouraged Peyton to get back on the field. Peyton, who originally wore number 14, later chose his brother's number, 18, and continued forward, carrying the dreams of both brothers.
Later, a number 18 quarterback who would go down in history appeared on the NFL field.
As the youngest son of the Manning family, Eli was always the one who was picked on, treated like his older brothers' toy. He stumbled and followed in his brothers' footsteps when he was young, and it was no different as he grew up. However, under the influence of the football environment, Eli's passing talent gradually emerged. In college, Eli achieved countless outstanding accomplishments in the spotlight and broke a series of team records at the University of Mississippi that his father had held. (Peyton chose to attend the University of Tennessee, the rival of the University of Mississippi, which caused a lot of controversy at the time. The youngest Manning son, however, returned to Archie's alma mater to relive his father's glory.)
In 2003, the second son of the Manning family, Peyton, had become a key player in the league and was elected regular season MVP for the first time, which made Eli's draft prospects look very promising. Peyton seemed to be a natural leader—mature, stable, strategic, and far-sighted. But he always lacked a certain ferocity in crucial moments. So, while Peyton could easily dominate regular season games, he struggled to make a breakthrough in the playoffs until the 2006 season when he won his first Super Bowl.
Eli, on the other hand, was different. He seemed to be a natural risk-taker—bold, aggressive, and decisive. While his performance was often inconsistent, he could always unleash a powerful force in critical moments to turn the tide. He inherited his father's passing touch and had a reliable connection with Peyton.
In the 2004 draft, Eli Manning was considered the first overall pick. However, the San Diego Chargers held the first pick, and Eli, through his father, made it clear that he refused to play for the Chargers. This became a public affair in the league, with only the Manning family knowing the true reason. Rumors said that Archie wanted his youngest son to go to the NFC to avoid the AFC, where Peyton was playing, preventing too many brotherly matchups during the season and making the playoff race less brutal. The Chargers were an AFC team.
Other rumors claimed that the Chargers' poor management was a huge disappointment to Eli and Archie during their pre-draft visit, which led to the refusal. Another theory was that Ryan Leaf, one of the biggest draft busts in league history who was drafted in the same year as Peyton, had failed with the Chargers. The reasoning was not about Leaf's personal ability but rather that the team's internal atmosphere and management were so poor that they stifled his talent.
No matter the rumors, the Manning family has never given a direct response, and it remains an unsolved mystery.
The Chargers, however, still selected Eli Manning in the draft. Amidst boos, Eli awkwardly held up the jersey for reporters, creating one of the most uncomfortable moments in league draft history. However, the Chargers had a deal in place. After selecting Eli, they quickly traded him to the New York Giants. The price was that the Giants, who held the fourth overall pick, selected Philip Rivers. The Giants then traded Rivers to the Chargers and also included multiple picks in the following year's draft, including a first-round pick.
And so, Eli Manning became the franchise quarterback for the New York Giants. After joining the league, Eli quickly found his footing. After a disastrous rookie season, he led the Giants to the top of the NFC East in his second season and made a breakthrough in his fourth season.
In the 2007 season, the Giants fought their way to the Super Bowl and faced the New England Patriots, who had a perfect 16-0 regular season record. Eli completed a game-winning touchdown pass in the final moments, pulling off an upset and winning the Super Bowl, as well as the Super Bowl MVP title.
Eli may not be as consistent as Peyton, but his abilities cannot be underestimated. Next week, Lu Ke will face Eli Manning, the first time he will play against a member of the Manning family in his career.
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