Manning Memories: Eli Manning Reveals One Giants Game He'd Love to Relive

And it was by far one of the best games in Manning's 16-year Giants career.

Aug 4, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Giants former quarterback Eli Manning prepares to throw out the first pitch before the game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants made the right decision 20 years ago when they traded for Eli Manning during the 2004 NFL Draft.

Two Super Bowls later, Manning finished with one of the greatest careers of any player in franchise history. There have been many memorable moments throughout his 16-year career, many coming in the postseason, but the one game Manning would love to go back and relive might surprise some people.  

“I’m going back to Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game,” Manning said during a panel at the Giants’ 100th Anniversary Night with Legends event held in June. “I just want to feel that coldness again."

He was of course referring to the Giants’ huge 13-6 overtime win against the Brett Favre-eld Green Bay Packers in which kicker Lawerence Tynes nailed the game-winning field goal in overtime that sent the Giants to Super Bowl XLII. 

Manning, who has let his sense of humor shine through ever since retiring after the 2019 season, quipped how receiver Plaxico Burress, who was on stage with him as part of the legends panel at the event, “loved it” and was “fired up” for the game.

But in all seriousness, Manning said there was just something special about that freezing cold night. 

“Something was working in that game. I remember we used to go out in pre-game. It was before every game, I would go with Plaxico and Amani Toomer and we would have about a 25-minute throwing session and we would go through all the routes and do our routine,” he recalled.

“And all of a sudden, we’re about five minutes through the routine, and they’re not catching anything with their hands. They’re body-catching everything, they’re jumping up, their hands are all frozen. And I kinda looked at them, they’re shivering a little bit, I’m like, ‘Are y’all loose? Are y’all warmed up?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’re good, let’s go to the locker room.’ It was good to go out there because you knew you couldn’t let your hands get cold. I knew I couldn’t let my hands get cold.”

While he didn't throw for any touchdowns in that game, the Manning-Burress connection was on display. Of Manning's 251 passing yards, 151 went to his wideout. Manning admitted that the Packers made it easy to get the ball to Burress in this game.

“They wanted to play man-to-man, press-man,” Manning said. “Man-to-man all day on Plaxico. He ended up having 11 catches. I think on nine of them, we just called fade stops, where, if the man was off, he would just run a five-yard hitch. If they pressed him, he was gonna run a fade.

“ I was gonna back-shoulder him, or if he beat them I would lead him down the field. It wasn’t complex. This is like, you do this when you’re like eight years old and playing peewee football. ‘Hey, run a hitch or a fade,’ and that’s all we were running, and we kept doing it, and they couldn’t guard him.”

The frozen tundra atmosphere could have ended the Giants' postseason run right there, but Manning and the Giants persevere to another unbelievable victory. That's one win many Giants fans will never forget. 

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