Eli Manning is a big boy. He’s an NFL quarterback who has already won a Super Bowl and is still very much in the prime of his career. Any quarterback who plays at the NFL level receives their fair share of criticism because so much is expected of them. With that in mind, you can understand why Archie Manning’s comments about Troy Aikman and Joe Buck criticizing his son came off as annoying. Based on the comments he made on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning, Aikman does not think Eli needs daddy to stick up for him.
“Eli hasn’t said anything to me,” Aikman said. “He’s 30 years old and if he has something to say or if he feels I’m being a little too tough then he can certainly voice that.”
Aikman is right about that. In fact, I doubt Eli even cares what he and Buck say about him on Sundays. The other thing Troy is right about is that Eli — like many other signal callers in the league — has a tendency to try to force some throws. When he makes a bad pass, the commentators have every right to criticize him for it. In fact, it’s part of their job in being objective.
“I think Eli is playing outstanding,” Aikman said. “Archie is referring to a game a few weeks back, when Eli, with a one-possession lead, threw a reckless ball into the corner of the end zone, it was intercepted and you just can’t have that as a quarterback. I know that, Eli knows that. I pointed it out. Sometimes quarterbacks don’t play as great as their parents think they do.”
Eli has received plenty of praise, particularly this season as he has been playing at a higher level than usual. That being said, he’s going to make plenty of mistakes. If Archie doesn’t like to hear people pointing out those mistakes, he should utilize the mute button.
Chest bump to Pro Football Talk for passing along the interview.
