Eli Manning Takes a Seat

So here’s a scenario that is played out in the corporate world with regularity.

CEO takes over a company and produces some outstanding results in both performance and profits, especially in his first few years.  There are a couple of not-so-great years thrown in but the Board of Directors don’t find fault with the CEO but rather those around him. There are also some things totally out of his control that are blamed.

The general consensus is the company is lucky to have this guy as their public face as all agree he has made a positive contribution for a long time and continues to do so.

Some changes are made at the top and the thought is things will turn around and under the CEO’s direction everyone is confident this will be a banner year.  However nothing seems to work and while nobody questions the CEO’s drive and effort some above him think maybe it’s time to make a change.  He gets called to a meeting of the Board of Directors and told that one of his underlings, who has never really shown much promise is going to be promoted over him and will now run the day-to-day operation.

The CEO has a guaranteed contract for two more years and he’s told he can keep his corner office and hang around but won’t really make any decisions.  Maybe he can help tutor the new guy who failed miserably before when he was with another company.

That scenario is basically what took place yesterday when the Giants did what no opponent has been able to do for more than 13 years and that is keep Eli Manning on the sidelines.  Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive starts will end this Sunday in Oakland when Jets castoff Geno Smith lines up at quarterback for the 2-9 Giants.

Coach Ben McAdoo, who should be out of a job soon, says he gave the 36-year old two-time Super Bowl winner the option of starting to keep his streak alive but Manning has two much class and dignity for that.

Unfortunately class and dignity are clearly lacking in the front office of what used to be one of the NFL’s proudest franchises.