NEW YORK — It doesn’t rank with Roger Maris’ record-shattering 61st home run at Yankee Stadium in 1961. Or Bobby Thompson’s ‘shot heard ‘around the world’ in a mid-1950s Brooklyn Dodger-New York Giant baseball classic.
But the NFL’s New York Giants, a franchise as storied as those Dodger and Giant baseball teams, managed a head-spinning, attention-grabbing move in their own right Tuesday, announcing that veteran quarterback Eli Manning was being benched after 210 consecutive starts over more than 13 years.
Manning, the brother of football star Peyton Manning, said he wasn’t happy about the move. Tears welled in his eyes talking to reporters and his chin quivered when asked about how much this hurt.
The Giants, who have won only two of 11 games this season, said that Geno Smith, who formerly played with the New York Jets, will start in place of Manning when the Giants face the Raiders in Oakland on Sunday. Coach Ben McAdoo gave the 36-year-old Manning the option of starting to keep his streak of 210 consecutive starts alive, but the two-time Super Bowl MVP didn’t want any part of that.
