Yes, it's the most boring sports show of the year. Yes, I have much better things to do on an April Saturday. But I can't help myself.

And being a draft analyst has to be the world's easiest job.

Can the Giants get Gallery at #4? They need a young LT much more than a QB at this point, even if we're talking Manning. I think they have to swing a deal with the Raiders at #2, and can, as long as the Raiders don't insist on the 2nd-rounder along with the Round 1 pick swap.

It's a guilty pleasure. The price to go from #4 to 2 is going to be high. Cleveland really wants Gallery plus a couple of other teams might want to move up.

there's a ton of depth in this draft too. The Jets will definitely have a player at #12 if their GM doesn't screw it up like usual.

And I love the Draft because of 3 little words:

Mel. Kiper. Jr.

The absolute best job in sports...maybe anywhere. Not only does he not have to be right, but it takes years before anyone can definitively say he's wrong! And by then, there are several new draft classes to follow....

For me, the star of the NFL Draft show is always Mel Kiper Jr's hair. And like the NBA draft, it's always a hoot to check out what player has on the most fucked up suit, which "student/athlete" is the most inarticulate, who's got the fattest mom, the ugliest girlfriend, who's parents are missing the most teeth, who needs the number to the crisis hotline because they've dropped twenty positions lower than their dumb ass agent predicted...

Word to that. The most pimped out suit is my fave, but a close second is who of the last of the special invitees is the last drafted. That dude is usually on the phone with his manager. I have been a fan of Warren Sapp since I saw him at the draft. I remember his long, sad face when he slipped due to some pot allegations. He seemed so sincere when TB finally drafted him and was all, "I'll show them..." Too bad he's such an ass now.

Mr. HeavenLy has watched this since the very beginning. He thinks the coverage is FAR too predictable. They cover the same "stories" every year - who has dropped, who was a reach, who was a bust, etc. This year, they'll throw in Maurice Clarett/Mike Williams and something about the Mannings. Mr. HeavenLy misses the days when they weren't prepared, didn't have film on someone, and knew nothing about someone.

Does anyone remember when the coverage featured Thurman Thomas and his family watching at home? It turned into great TV when he fell all the way to the middle of the 2nd round -- some 20-25 picks behind what everyone but the teams themselves expected.

Viva Mel Kiper's Coif!

Annual highlight of the first round EVERY YEAR: "with the 12th pick in the ____ draft the New York Jets take Tight End, Big Jim Slade from Ball State University."
Jets' Fans in unison: "AWWW!!!!" (It's always a TE and guess the reference there.)

Is there anybigger waste of TV than the second day of the draft? I love finding out who's going to be Mr. Obscurity as much as the next guy and I know alot of good players come out of the second day. But I'll just check the ESPN webpage.

This should be an interesting draft, I'm still atwitter trying to guess how San Diego is going to screw up this year's number one. (Cryan Leaf, trading Mike Vick, Bethard trading a one for a two every year...)

One guy I hope I don't see: Drew Rosenhaus! After making the rounds self-fellating over his brilliant "call Willis McGahee on my cell to make it look like he's getting interest" gambit. Did Rosenhaus invent the "hold the phone to your chaest so to pretend like you're checking you're schedule" trick, as well? His predictions of a thousand yard season and a pro bowl for Willis were a tad optimistic. That egotistical cock is one reason I can deal with the Portis trade.

Speaking of Drew Rosenhaus.... There was an article in the Philadelphia Daily News yesterday about how one of the "unspoken" items that affects when a player gets drafted is his choice of agents.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/fo.../8480644.htm?1c

What crybabies Archie and Eli are. I hope the Chargers still do pick him. I'm sick of these college primadonnas who think they're the Eight Wonder of the World and feel so self-entitled that they can dictate where they will play. Whatever happened to just being happy that you're going to be professional and make more money than you could ever dream of? Peyton was drafted by the Colts - certainly a crappy team back then, but now they're legitimate contenders. If you are truly the next big thing, Eli, you should be able to thrive no matter where you play. I'm surprised that situation came up - we see it much more in basketball than in football. The big question is whether he'll be the next Lebron/Carmelo or just another whiny Stevie Francis.

My dad mentioned the CHarger's thing today--I can't belive you can do that. It seems so...whiny. THe point of being the first pick is that you go to a sucky team, isn't it?

I might actually have to watch the draft this year, because of Gallery (GO HAWKS!!), he seems like a nice guy as well as a killer player.
My dad's hoping that anyone *but* Cleveland draft him so that we can watch him on tv next year.

Mel Kiper Jr? Scares me.

My favorite tidbit about Mel's legendary coif? His wife cuts his hair. I kid you not.

As a Giant fan, I have very mixed feelings about the Eli Manning situation.

Their best move, since they're a veteran team that was just killed by injuries and a tough schedule last year, would be to keep Collins, sit at #4 and take Gallery if he's there. If Gallery is gone, which is probable, they can move down a few spots and still pick up an elite player, whether it be Big Ben or otherwise.

Eli Manning would be fun to have around, but I'm not sure that the price will be worth it, given the alternatives available. Besides, the power plays don't sit well with me on principle. More power to the Mannings if it's important enough to them and they can pull it off now, but IMHO the draft rules should be advised to force the player pulling an Elway to wait two years rather than one to reeenter the draft.

It's true. And she's a professional hairstylist.

Mel Kiper posted his mock sixth round on ESPN for those who are members of "ESPN Insider" (I'm not). A mock sixth round? That's insane. How much more can the draft be milked before the fact?

Another punch in my VIP ticket to hell, but after what happened to Pat Tillman, I hope Eli and the rest of the whiners in the Manning family blow out their knees.

Eli Manning and his dad, not Payton, are such bitches. I hope Eli's career is cut short. I love this sanctimonious interview they are giving ESPN right now. Fuck them. He's trying to be a free agent and he can't do that. Fucktard.

Edit: ESPN can suck my dick. I hate Berman and the rest of them and their bullshit. "Classy move, classy move holding the jersey." What the fuck else is he supposed to do? Defecate on it. And it wasn't like he was holding it up high, he was slumping and crumpling it. And you can't compare this cornpone dumbshit fuck to Elway or Bo, because they could play another sport. It's funny how when Steve Francis did this, ESPN was lambasting him, calling him a selfish prick for trying to be a free agent when he didn't want to go to Vancouver, but Manning gets a fucking free pass. First family, first family my ass. I hope he does sit out a season and gets hit by a falling rock.

Hee they booed him -- little bastard crybaby whiner.
Not a classy move to hold the jersey and then go sit and interview and say you were hoping to be traded.

I was on the fence about the Eli Manning situation. I don't like players holding out when they're being offered millions just to play a game, but I don't really blame anyone for not wanting to play for an organization as bad as the Chargers. Plus, I'm a Giants fan and it might be nice to see them get a hotshot QB for a change.

But after just seeing that whiny brat give his post-selection interview I hope I never see him in a Giants uniform. "We told the Chargers what would happen if they picked me". WTF?? Waaaah, waaah waaah. This was sickening, especially coming right after the tribute to Pat Tillman. Truly pathetic.

ETA - So, not only is the creep now a Giant but they gave up WAY too much to get him. At least we Giants fans have the whole summer to get in top booing form again. Of course, we're rarely NOT in top booing form!

Let me tell you something Eli - you get no grace period. None. Nada. You better be great right out of the box. You think you got booed at LSU? Sonny, you ain't heard nothin' yet!

I agree that ESPN totally let him off the hook. They were falling all over themselves kissing up to all the Mannings.

Robert Gallery, should've been the number one pick. Class act.

I hate Irvin's grunty voice.

Chris Berman needs to go away. for good. The guy is annoying as hell.

I hear ya cronox, it's like he did a pound of blow before the draft.

It was nice to hear Tony Kornhieser admit he was wrong about declaring ESPN idiots for televising the draft 15 years ago. Not enough columnists have backed off of this position, (day one anyway.)

Anyone doubting the superiority of the NFL's position in the sports culture in America notice how the draft will get more attention than baseball games and NHL and NBA playoffs this weekend. Of course that might have something to do with baseball not even televising their draft, even my sport hockey isn't that stupid.

Eli Manning may regret this powerplay, but then again it worked out for Elway in the end. Count me in as to being tired of the whole class act thing.

Did I really see a woman in the audience wearing nothing but a couple strategically place bumper stickers?

Well, I can't comment on ESPN in general but Chris Berman will always be much more willing to give an NFL player the benefit of the doubt than he would an NBA player. Berman has spent the last ten or so years bashing the NBA. The NBA players have only one work-stoppage incident in the history of its league and Berman bashed them for it even though he has gone easy on NFL and MLB players and owners who have gotten into more frequent labor disputes. Even worse he refered to the NBA labor problem from a few years ago as a strike in print even though as a professional he knew very well that it was actually a lockout and understood the difference between the two (and there is a big difference). Looks how he gives Barry Bonds and every other assumed steroid baseball using player a free pass. If it was NBA players using roids instead he would be all over them. And of course for those who pay attention he almost never picks an NBA play as one of his top plays of the week unless the play involves some record being broken or the retirement of one of the great players from the Golden Age of the 80s. I don't mind his not caring for the league but I wish he would do his job and stop being a hypocrite.

On to Kevin Winslow. Shut up, bitch! So the Skins didn't pick you. So what? Move on, "soldier."





Yeah, and reality TV dominates the ratings. Doesn't mean its any good. :)

My problem with the NFL is that for a game that is supposed to be so great it hypes itself way too much and tries to force feed its way down our collective throats (10 hours of pregame shows on Sunday is just too much). Kornheiser obviously is going to apologize for his comments about televising the draft because its gets ratings and TK doesn't want to look like a fool who goes against the grain when it comes to sports viewership. 15 years from now he may be apologizing about his comments concerning NASCAR. Not because he will like it but because so much of the country does. Unfortunately one of the problems with TK is that he bases quality of a sports event on ratings. A great game could take place in the NHL but since its gets zero ratings Kornheiser will just brush it off and say it isn't really worth talking about.

In my opinion the NFL Draft coverage, which stole its formula from the NBA draft coverage, is overkill. You got 1000 reporters trying to break everything down and a bunch of NFL executives so obtuse thet need an hour between each pick to make a decision. At least the NBA draft is over quickly. I can start and finish "War and Peace" between the opening and conclusion of the NFL Draft. Its too much.




Amen. Its bad enough he's a Cowboy but he's also a clown who DOES NOT have a "TV voice."

Are you sure about that? ESPN started televising the NFL draft in the early 80's. Back then the NBA couldn't even get its playoff games on live TV.

Kellen Winslow sure does have a big stick up his but considering how priviledged his uprbringing was. I would love to see what the vets do to him as a rookie in camp.

Amen to that. I'll sit next to you on that ride. That's First Class, right?

Hang on a second. Why all the Manning hatred? Jon Jansen made a rather nice point during this whole coverage - that the franchises basically hold all of the cards during your first four years in the league. Eli tries to exercise some amount of control (and really, can you blame him?) and he gets hammered for it? It's not like Eli or his father leaked it. In fact, from everything I've heard, the Chargers leaked this and have tried their damnedest to spin it to make Eli's agent and Eli the bad guys.

I don't blame Eli for one second for trying to exercise some amount of control. Kyle Boller said he didn't agree because it was a draft, and the whole point of a draft is that you don't control where you go. But who made it that way? The franchises and the league. Is a draft, organized in this way, in the best interests of players collectively? Probably. Is it in the best interests of specific players - especially the first overall pick? Probably not. It's not going to screw the system up, it's not going to change things terribly - it allowed Manning to control his destiny a bit.

Frankly, it's not that much different than deciding to leave early/stay in school another year to fiddle with your draft status, after taking a look at who'd be drafting you (if you're a consensus top-five pick) this year.

Granted, Manning might not be the best quarterback in this draft - but I don't blame Archie for a moment for doing this. Or don't you guys remember what Archie got to deal with in New Orleans, with a franchise that was run by monkeys? He never got surrounded with a quality group of players, and his career was shortened because of it. Now Archie might be projecting himself onto Eli here, but again - very few of us have been in that position, and therefore have the first-hand knowledge behind those choices.

Because he's a whiny bitch.



Okay?? It's a draft. The purpose of the draft is that the worst teams get the best draft picks. You can't control who drafts you because then what is the point of the draft. Sure they didn't leak it, the Chargers did. There was nothing wrong with that, they were being BLACKMAILED. Eli, his bitch dad, and their bitch agent are the bad guys. Bitches too.



Yes, the league also made it be 6 points for every touchdown, but what is fucking Eli Manning doesn't like that? Is he gonna sit out until they make it 7 points? The whole intent of the draft is to keep the league balanced. Eli was being a bitch, he knew that the league was set up that way, and he cries about it. Fuck you, Eli. You got guys that are begging, scratching, and clawing for just a chance. There is a slippery slope and what if next year, the top pick holds out until the Super Bowl champs draft him. The top pick isn't some divine right from God, you can't control everything you want.



It is a LOT different. His brother did that after his junior year and that was alright, he could go back college. Eli Manning and his daddy chose to be bitches.



You know the Colts were pretty bad when they drafted his son, but he had no complaints there. You know what that says to me? That Archie has no faith in his son and doesn't believe he's good enough to play and turn around a team like his son. That all said, Eli not only was a bitch, but he hurt his future team's future because they traded away a better QB and a shitload of picks to the Chargers and the Chargers got a QB they wanted all along. That's selfish.

My thoughts:

*Eli? Do go engage in self-fornication, please. Let me explain what a 'draft' is, in case RubbaBandMan's explanation wasn't enough. In what you went through to get to Ole Miss, a 'signing period', the players picked where they wanted to go. In a 'draft', which is what happened today, the teams pick who gets to play for them. You had no right to tell the Chargers not to draft you. You have no say in the matter.

But it turns out you did, and the Giants had to get raped by the Chargers to accomodate you. And I did catch the part where you had on that big fake smile and no hat when the Chargers took you, and then you had a real smile and a Giants cap when you were in East Rutherford less than 2 hours after being traded. I'm not wishing you to die or anything, just maybe tear something in your arm and throw like a girl for the rest of your football career. It doesn't even have to instantly end your career. Just a little career-shortening embarrassment is all I ask.

*You too, Irvin. Don't think I missed the part where you called an underclassman who didn't declare (forget who it was) stupid for staying in college instead of coming out early. So, let me get this straight: The kid's valuing an education over the NFL... and he's stupid?

*The attraction to Mel for me is not his hair. It's his ability to yammer on endlessly about a constant stream of schlubs who will inevitably get cut in June and never step on a high-end football field again. Amazed when you heard about his correct prediction of San Diego taking the Iowa kicker in the 3rd round? Wait till he describes the throwing mechanics of Joe Schmo from Southern North Dakota State late in the 6th round.

*A name you may not be familiar with: Darnell Dockett of Florida St. I saw him on the board when the Packers were up in round 2 (pick traded to Jacksonville for a couple of 3rd rounders). Sports Illustrated had him going to us in the 1st round. So, naturally, I started screaming at the TV about how we should pick him. It was only after they traded with the Jaguars that I found out that Dockett is a complete mental case. Then it became a game of 'how far will he drop?' Who ultimately got him? Arizona. Of course.

*That's to say nothing of Tillman. Clearly a great man, very moving pieces about him, although after seeing him for basically all day Friday all over the airwaves, I was a bit Tillmaned out. But that's really more on my end than ESPN's or the NFL's.

*Flashbacks. Love 'em. Deion Sanders? Another self-fornication candidate, from the flashback where he had JUST been drafted and was wearing vast amounts of bling-bling. Atlanta should have taken this as an omen.

Yeah, fine, that's the purpose of the draft (and yes, I do understand what a draft is) - but it's not necessarily something Eli has to sit and take. Elway didn't, so are you going to call him a whiny bitch too? (And, no, Elway's "baseball option" was bogus, unlike Bo Jackson's, as the commentators noted at the top of show.)

Won't happen, because there isn't that much of a slippery slope. You needed a rather fortuitous confluence of circumstances here for this to have happened in the first place. The Chargers weren't sure who to take. They liked another quarterback almost as much. Manning (correctly or not) was the consensus number one pick. Finally, the team that really wanted Manning (and the team Manning really wanted), was close enough to make a trade do-able. If the Patriots had really, really wanted Manning, there's no way this happens. A 21 and a 32 plus a number one next year still wouldn't have gotten it done.

Manning didn't control everything - but he did control as much as he could, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Exactly how is that different? Please explain - because right now, all you're doing is name-calling without any explanation. Which is your right, but you can't have a rational discussion with that as a starting point.

The Colts may have been coming off of a 3-13 record, but as Kiper and Mortenson and Berman pointed out, the management staff they had in place (coach, GM, team president) were people that Archie knew and trusted, and who had good reputations in the league. The Chargers, on the other hand, have a relatively untested group in the front office, a coach who is somewhat of a lame duck (unlike Mora at that time, who was secure), and little more than LaDainian Tomlinson to point at as team positives. Add to that the uncertainty about the stadium and the Chargers staying in San Diego, and you have a much different situation than with Indianapolis back in 1998.

Archie might have faith in his son, but he probably doesn't want to watch Eli suffer as he did (which means that Archie, rightly or wrongly, is equating today's Chargers with the Saints of the 1970s). Rivers being a "better QB" is an open question (and will continue to be for five years), so that's a wash. And you are right - the majority of analysts are saying that the Giants paid too much for Manning. But that doesn't automatically hurt the Giants' future - for comparison, take a look at Atlanta (who gave up quite a bit for Michael Vick) and the Chargers. Which one of those teams has a brighter future, right now?

You sure did. That was my WTF moment of the draft...eerily similar to how I felt the first time I saw the unexpected bouncing breast scene in Airplane.

Detroit did a really good job today.

Still on the fence about the whole Manning situation as an observer, though if I was Archie, I would've done exactly the same thing for my son.

The key to the Manning trade is how the Giants do this year. It won't surprise me to see Charger fans rooting as heavily for the Giants to lose as they will for the Chargers to win. I felt the trade was one of those good-for-both-sides deals. Kerry Collins is so gone, though.

Yes, yes it is something he has to take. It's part of the NFL rules and guidelines and if he doesn't like it, take ya bitch ass to the XFL(haha) or the CFL. Elway's baseball option was bogus in that it wasn't a major league contract, like Bo's, but he still coulda played ball for a year and then re-entered the draft. And guess what? Elway was a bitch too, except he came out in the media and said he didn't want to play for the Colts and not behind closed doors and not through his daddy.



The Chargers knew who they were taking, it was Manning for two reasons. He was a great quarterback and he was a name. If they didn't draft Eli Manning, the fans would have turned on them so fast, it wouldn't have been funny. Plus, their division rival Raiders would have drafted him and that would have been trouble.



Well, Peyton could have come out after his junior year and been drafted, but he didn't like who could have drafted him, so he came back, completed his education and came out the following year. In no way, shape, or form did he make any demands or threats and he was well within his right to do what he did. Eli chose to be a punk ass.

Well Larry Fitzgerald grew up around the Vikings and knew all their personnel so maybe he shoulda been a bitch and held out till then. All I know is that Manning had no right to blackmail the Chargers, which is what he did. The fact that he did so and then CRIED to the media that "It was supposed to be behind closed doors," just screams out bitch to me. The league COMMISIONER called Eli Manning's dad to go talk to the Chargers and his son so that this whole ridiculous situation could be worked out. Even Tagliabue thought this was a horrible thing to do. I hope he get his cranium cracked by the Eagles and Philly fans cheer it.

I guess we disagree, then. I don't think it was something Manning had to take. If he (and his father) really, really didn't want to go to San Diego, then he has every right to do everything in his power to avoid it. It's not part of any written rules or guidelines that Manning had to obey - if it were, then we wouldn't be talking about Bo or Elway.

Not sure how your response to my bit about "this won't happen every year, and it certainly won't be a slippery slope" actually demonstrates how there will be a slippery slope.


Actually, from the stories, his closest connections are to Dennis Green (his new head coach), Cris Carter (retired), and Randy Moss (the Viking). Which means he ended up in just the place where he wanted. And, like I said above (regarding your slippery slope assertion) - there's no way Fitzgerald would've been able to get the Vikings and the Cardinals to switch even if he'd wanted to, mostly because the Vikings were too low in the round to make it happen.

Actually, he has every right (legal/contractual) to do so - so did Bo and Elway. Was it "right" (morally) for him to have done so - the question the commentators seemed to split on, when they addressed it at all - that's another question. I think it's fine for him to have done so. You don't.

Why? Why does that scream out "bitch" to you? And I don't remember any tears - or were you talking about a different kind of crying?

Has Tags ever said that he thought Manning did the wrong thing? I don't think so. Now, as commissioner, it's his job to solve problems like this - so if he did do anything to help get this trade done (and it's not clear that he did - in his interview with Berman, he said that he had little part in the deal), that does not necessarily mean that he disapproved of Manning's actions.

We seem to disagree on a fundamental level. You seem to support the position that draftees get no say in where they go, or what happens to them, and that's a good thing. I think that it's generally a good thing, but it's something imposed on them without draftees getting any say in the matter. The best they can do is have their agents talk to certain franchises in order to get deals done (trading of picks) so they go to someplace more as opposed to less preferable. This situation really isn't much different - Eli Manning just took a harder line than most picks, because he had the ability to do so (confluence of circumstances, etc.).

Frankly, it seems like the Chargers have done a very good job spinning this to make the Mannings (and Eli's agent) look bad. This, from a franchise that traded up to draft Ryan Leaf, that traded away Michael Vick for a quarterback they're going to bail on (Drew Brees) and a less-than-stellar receiver (Tim Dwight), that can't nail a stadium deal down in a great market, that might move to LA shortly, that hasn't drafted anyone of more-than-average quality except Tomlinson in almost a decade, and that's also been in the division basement for as long as anyone cares to remember. There are probably other things wrong with the Chargers - that's all I can come up with on short notice. But when you let Junior Seau leave, and leave on bad terms, and he's still one of the best defenders you've got (even if he's lost a step), then something's wrong.

With all the Manning intrigue today and the tons of trades this could have been on of the best draft televised ever, but Berman and Irvin just dominated the coverage too much. They took too much time away from Mortinson and Kiper.

And you know who finally struck me as missing: Tom Jackson. Why would ESPN not have a teammate of John Elway's from his rookie year to his ascendency to the Super Bowl to give some insight on Eli Manning. Instead we get ESPN's answer to Deion Sanders. The question being is there a studio host more annoying, egotistical, towel snapping, unlikable and dumber than Deion.

I hope ESPN isn't pushing out TJ for standing up about Jabba the Rush last year.

I'm sure the first draft telecast was 1982 when Barry Sims went no. 1. I don't know about the NBA.

Is this her? Apparently her name is Sondra Fortunato, and she makes a living at this.

As a charger fan I 'm almost glad Manning didn't want to come here, I had wanted Gallery and at first was hoping to trade down and get him, but rivers and the picks is good enough, and IMNSHO better the Manning. I expect both the Chargers and Giants to sux this season giving the Bolts two high picks next year, assuming they don't use one in the possible supplemental this year.

Yes, it was! The pan across her was fast enough that all I saw was blond hair and the bra-sized cardboard sign across her chest. The pink outfit underneath fooled me, as it was probably supposed to.

Yeah. The draft is Mel Kiper's day. It's what ESPN has him on contract for. But every year they add more and more commentators and interviewers and roving reporters and end up with less and less Mel. This year was the worst yet with that idiot Irvin in there. ESPN needs to understand that sometimes less is better. Continuing to add more people and more flash to the broadcast does not mean a better broadcast.


I'm a Giants fan but I am so looking forward to whiny boy's first game in Philly. C'mon Eagles fans, don't let me down. Boo him like you've never booed before!

One thing that keeps getting mentioned in defense of the Mannings is that Archie was just being a good dad looking out for his little boy because he didn't want Eli to end up spending his whole career with a bad organization like Archie did. The NFL today is not like the NFL of Archie's time. Players have a lot more freedom of movement from team to team. Eli could have signed a short three or four year contract and then, if the Chargers were still terrible and had not shown any inclination to improve the team, he could walk away and sign with another team of his choosing. Yes, he would probably take a beating in those first years, but not really any worse that what will happen to him with the team of his dreams, the Giants, who are not much better at protecting QBs right now than the Chargers are. Just ask Kerry Collins.

Yes, actually I do. I still hate John Elway to this day.
I figured Tom Jackson refused to kiss the Mannings' asses, so ESPN wouldn't let him work, since kissing the Mannings asses seemed to be a requirement to work at ESPN yesterday

It's not right, morally or whatever, to blackmail anyone.



Of course he didn't cry, there are multiple meanings to the word cry. It's like if I sleep with your girl and then tell you because I'm your friend. You break up with her and then she tells everyone how pissed she is at me for telling her ex, how I'm the reason they broke up when she was clearly in the wrong. That's a bitch.



Tags asked Archie to talk to the Chargers so that they could get past this "I don't wanna play for the Chargers" because it is wrong and looks bad for the league. Of course he had little to do with the trade because it came from a bitch situation and it would be seen as tampering.



Yes we do. I support the full way of the draft as set up by both the NFL and the NFLPA. You don't. The purpose of the draft is so that the worst team gets the best player in order to rebuild. If Manning doesn't like the agreed upon rules, he can try to sue, like Clarett, and change them. What other rules doesn't he like?



There was nothing to spin. The Mannings look like dicks because they were/are dicks. So is Eli's agent. When they traded up to get Leaf, they needed a quarterback badly, he didn't work out, it happens, hindsight is 20/20. What other team hasn't gotten a bust? And when they traded away Vick, they got a running back, which they also needed, for a quarterback they didn't. And LaDanian is the Best All-Around Running Back in football. And he's had a hell of a better pro career than Michael Vick. The Chargers won in the trade. Junior Seau was old and wanted Young Stud money which he didn't deserve.

And I bet Tom Jackson had better things to do, Hasbro, for hours on a Saturday and kiss ass.

And WORD to zooropa about the turnover ability of teams in the NFL. That's the purpose of the draft.

Let me add my voice to the Eli hate.

Eli wasn't even a member of the NFL before yesterday's draft and yet he thought it was okay to whine about refusing to play for San Diego?!? He had no right to bitch and moan. The rules were made and agreed upon by people who made the league great long before he was born. If he didn't like it he always had the option of NOT playing in the NFL and taking his skills to Oh, Canada! Or maybe he could have played minor league baseball somewhere. He's spoiled. The draft is determined ultimately by the teams, not the players. You play for the team that picks you, regardless of whether or not you like the organization. I hate it when any player of any sports thinks he's actually above the sport and wishes to change the rules of a draft. You would think what happened to Pat Tillman would have made Eli realize that getting millions to play in San Diego is not all that bad. There are a lot worse jobs out there (not to mention more dangerous ones) that pay a whole lot less. Get over yourself, Mr. Manning. The media seems almost unified on Maurice Clarette (sp?) but too many are giving Eli a free pass even though his choice to me is just as reprehensible.

Is it possible for ESPN to fit a few more factoids and updates on my TV screen while the draft is going on? My god, I was at work yesterday, and I got to steal a glance at the TV for a second to try and find out who the Bucs selected in the first round, but after staring at the endless parade of information scrolling across the TV for a few minutes, I came away more confused than anything else.

As was already said, sometimes less is more, ESPN.

I bet when anything goes wrong at Giants camp, Coughlin's gonna hear nothing but:

"I'm ELI MANNING, BITCH!"

8-)

And so it ends. Nice to see the Giants as Draft Day players for a change.

I agree with Colonial. If the Chargers were selecting Eli, the Chargers would of use him as a promotional tool. No one blackmailing each other. Oh, everyone, you forgot one component to the situation: Marty Schottenheimer. Coach Marty wanted Rivers all the way. He had the same delivery as Marty's first QB: Bernie Kosar. He became successful and lead the Browns into the playoffs. That was from day one when the Senior Bowl began. With no Eli Manning (who was suppose to be in the Senior Bowl, but opt-out), Rivers replace him and impress Marty. The confrontation between Manning and the Chargers is bascially the FO trying to draft Manning for promotion. Eli didn't want to be part of it and that's why there's arguments. I agree that if you draft someone, its your property, but If you have turmoil between the organization (The FO and Marty), someone is giving mixed signals. That person was AJ Smith, who acted like The Spanos mascot. Although he got the deal done at the end, he was the true prick of the whole situation. I believe The Mannings knew Marty wanted Rivers and I think they ask AJ and the org to not draft him because to be honest, Marty didn't had a good look at Eli. Yeah, he's a great QB, but not in Marty's system, and if Eli were been drafted, I can see the clashes between Marty and Eli, since Marty loves goofy deliveries. AJ wanted to protect the Spanos investment and wanted something for the fans (really bad move). Eli had a right at the time because the coach didn't want him in the beginning. It was about Eli being a dill-do for SD for the FO. And if Eli was been drafted, the organization would of been down the drain for a long time. With extra picks, the Chargers reduce the rebuilding process by two years. The trade worked out on both teams. Oh, let me correct myself, someone did get blackballed and that was Marty.

The Giants did give up two draft picks too many for Manning.

But WTF is the matter with the Eagles? You trade your first and second round picks to San Fran and then take a Tackle? Whose idea was this?

The only QB that worked in Marty's system was John Elway. When Marty and all of his family are fired next year he can go back to his job of appearing in Elway documentaries talking about giving up come backs to Elway.

Never mind. I'm a bit slow on the uptake.

In theory, yes, but the Chargers have been such a poorly run organization (something the Mannings evidently were well aware of), that even the additional picks might not be enough to make a significant dent.