The opinion that it's "pathetic" for the Giants to relegate one of their organizational icons to the bench in an effort to give 27 year old Geno Smith - of all people - a chance to prove that absence hasn't made his arm grow fonder of throwing to the right team is not new. It's also not a novel concept for members the "quarterback fraternity" to stick together when one of them has - either rightfully or wrongfully - been used as a scapegoat. Therefore, it's not exactly surprising that Philip Rivers has strong feelings about the way a franchise and its soon-to-be-unemployed caricature of a head coach handled the benching of the two-time Super Bowl MVP that he was once traded for. The long-time Chargers QB would probably give up his soon-to-be-conceived unborn triplets to have the success that Eli Manning has had, so to think that not even multiple championships can save you from being strong-armed to the sidelines has to be absolutely baffling to him. Regardless of all that, I want you to listen to how impassioned Philip Rivers was in defense of Eli Manning, and then envision a world where the two switched career paths. Pretend, just for a minute, that Eli Manning wasn't a spoiled little brat that used his family's league-wide standing to manipulate the integrity of the draft process, and that Philip Rivers was the one with the shockingly full trophy case and a spot already carved out for his likeness in Canton.... Can you imagine someone like Ben McAdoo - who currently carries such a laughable lack of clout in his own locker room that he might as well become the Giants unofficial mascot - giving Philip Rivers the option to either accept a pity start or carry a clipboard? I know it's a far-fetched hypothetical that is wildly circumstantial, but since it would result in an NFL quarterback beating the ever-loving piss out of an NFL head coach (in name only), I'm just going to let my imagination run with it. The locker-front blubbering would be replaced by an expletive-laced rant for the ages. Eli's quivering lip would be replaced by Ben McAdoo's bloody lip. In fact, I'm not even sure that this decision gets made if the course of history were altered and the face of the Giants' franchise were the most emotionally erratic quarterback in the NFL as opposed to someone whose employer had to metaphorically spit in the mouth he predominantly breathes out of before his face wore an expression other than confusion. I honestly think that if Eli Manning shunned a career's worth of perceived apathy and went full-Philip Rivers in response to being told he wasn't starting then he would probably be both starting and finishing. There's not a lot that Philip Rivers has over Eli Manning, but the ability to make people apprehensive about delivering him bad news absolutely has to be on that short list. P.S. I think Steve Young is inclined to agree...
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