Eli Manning will hold a press conference on Friday to formally announce his retirement from the NFL, and that is kind of a big deal for the New York Giants. It is such a significant event, in fact, that the team’s normal press conference setup was not enough to accommodate it.
Manning’s press conference was held inside the Giants’ field house rather than the auditorium. There have been multiple coaching changes and star players coming and going over the years in New York, but ESPN’s Jordan Raanan says that is the first time he has seen that particular setup.
Eli Manning’s retirement press conference is taking place in the Giants field house to accommodate the expected large crowd. Never in my 8 years covering the team have I seen a setup like this in the field house. The auditorium wouldn’t have provided enough room for this farewell pic.twitter.com/h8UP9DG6S9
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 24, 2020
The debate over whether or not Manning is a Hall of Famer has already begun raging, but his importance to the Giants can’t be overstated. He helped the franchise win two Super Bowls, one of which spoiled what would have been the only 19-0 season in NFL history.
Tom Coughlin has already paid tribute to Manning in an emotional statement, and that is the type of tone we can expect to see from a lot more people on Friday.
