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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Eli Manning Meets with Local Media
6/23/2007 | Football
Former Rebel All-American quarterback Eli Manning served as the guest speaker for the Ole Miss Ladies' Football Forum Saturday at the Indoor Practice Facility and also took time out to meet with local media.
Opening Comments
I'm happy to be back in Oxford, and I always try to get back to Mississippi when I can. I'm just happy to be here.
Q: What are your thoughts about coming back and helping with the Ladies' Football Forum?
A: It is fun. Chyna (Ward) has been doing this for a long time. When I was in school here, we would have to come in and lift weights for (the women) and do different things. She works extremely hard on the Women's Forum, and Chyna was great to me when I was here, handling all the autographs. Really, a lot of people should be thanking her, because most of the autograph requests came through Chyna. She organized everything, so I just wanted to help her out. She's real proud of the cook book that she showed me, which was very exciting to see. I'm always wanting an excuse to come back to Oxford. This gave me a reason to get back here.
Q: What are you going to say in your speech at the Forum?
A: I'm not sure. My mom spoke to them a few years ago, and she did a better job than I'll do. I'm just going to open it up to questions for anything they might have about living in New York or football. I just got engaged, so I'm sure they will have some questions about that. I'm going to leave it very open and try to have fun with them.
Q: What's it like being the starting quarterback of the New York Giants?
A: I love New York. It's been great. I don't live in the city, but during the offseason I get in there sometimes. After a win, I'll go in. If you're winning and things are going well, it's the best place to be in the world. If things aren't going well, then it can be tough at times. The fans have been great. The people around there have been very supportive. It's a great organization between the Mara and Tisch families and the history of football and sports. They love all their sports. I've been working hard in trying to give them a winning team.
Q: We saw you on the sidelines during the Georgia game when you came back to campus. What's your relationship with Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron and Ole Miss now that you've gone on to the NFL?
A: As I've gotten older, I've lost contact with some of the players. I still knew a few of the guys last year. Patrick Willis was a freshman when I was a senior. I still talk to him. I see Coach O, and I've come out to the team before and talked with them. I still support Ole Miss and support everything they are doing and root for them. I watch every game I can. Coach O has been very kind to me and nice to me, so I support the team and Ole Miss and everything they are doing.
Q: When you first saw Patrick Willis, did you think he would become that good?
A: Yes. I saw his work ethic the way he came in his freshman year. He was undersized at that time, but he got in the weight room. You could see that first year, when he came in that summer, he had already put on 20 pounds or so. You saw his speed and dedication and what a great kid he was. That's what you notice. He came in with a goal and he came in saying 'I'm going to give it all that I can' and that's what he's done. He's just one of those special guys. Being out there with him that summer, I would say 'who is that freshman kid at linebacker intercepting me during seven-on-seven drills?' My roommate was Justin Wade and a linebacker. He kept talking about this freshman Patrick Willis and saying he was going to be the real deal. I'm proud of him. He's worked extremely hard. He's done all the right things to get where is he. I've been in touch with him since he's been out in San Francisco and it sounds like things are going well.
Q: It's been reported in the media that San Francisco wants to build its defense around Patrick Willis. Do you think that's a good thing to do? Can he hold his own?
A: I think so. I know he'll do all the right things. He'll work hard and do his studying. He'll be dedicated to the team. He'll be great around the locker room and be a great person running the show. I think he'll do a great job, and he'll fulfill everybody's expectations.
Q: You've had your ups and downs during your short career. What are you hoping for this year?
A: I think just the more experience you get, the more games you play, the more practices, the longer you're in an offense around the same personnel, the receivers, and everybody, you get more comfortable and have the knack for making big plays. If things go bad, you know how to get out of bad situations. I think that's the toughest thing to do at any level. When you have the worst play called against their defense and have nowhere to go, what decision are you going to make? The key is to not make a bad play into a awful play or do something wrong to make it worse. You have to find a way to eliminate those. You're going to have your good plays and your perfect plays. You have to execute and do well and not make the big mistakes. I feel good. We had a great offseason and a great mini-camp with good energy and good attitude. We had some new guys coming in, so I'm looking forward to the season getting started.
Q: How do you see the offense changing with Tiki Barber retiring?
A: We're going to miss Tiki. He was a big part of our offense and a guy who we counted on to make plays for us. Right now, we have two new backs competing for the job, Brandon Jacobs and Reuben Droughns. Both of them are powerful backs. They're not Tiki, and we're not expecting them to be Tiki. They are both guys that need the ball a bunch and they pound and get stronger as the game does on. We are going to have to make a few adjustments, but we have that ability. We have playmakers. We have the right combination of guys that we can do some exciting things both offensively and defensively.
Q: How do you think Robert Douglas will do at fullback?
A: Robert had a good camp and he's the only fullback in there right now, so he got a ton of reps. He's learning things and catches the ball well out of the backfield. He's a good receiver and can make some plays with the ball in his hands. We don't hand the ball to the fullback much in our offense, but that could change. He's going to be a blocking guy, a lead blocker, but has the ability to catch a few balls. He had good OTAs and mini-camps. He's working hard and is a good kid and is something to look forward to.
Q: How do you deal with the criticism that goes with playing the quarterback position?
A: I don't read the papers. I don't worry about it. My job is to prepare every week and go out there and try to play well and try to find ways to win for the Giants. That's what I'm doing. I feel like I've done my study and done my work, and we've made it to the playoffs the last two years. Not a whole lot of teams or quarterbacks can say that. I've got to keep working and keep trying to improve. It doesn't matter if you have a great season or a bad season. It never changes your work ethic or what you have to do during the offseason. You can always get better at something. You can't stay the same or maintain in this league. You have to always keep improving if you expect to do well.
Q: You have a big charity event scheduled tonight in Jackson, Miss. Are you looking forward to that?
A: I am. We have a deal in Jackson for the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children. It's going to be a great event. It's something I've been working hard on the last few months with the people in Jackson, Bank Plus. It should be fun. We're going to have a cook-off and raise some money for the hospital for new clinics at the children's wing.
Q: Is this your Giants team now?
A: I think, as a quarterback, you have to take charge. You are running the show. I have the respect of the players. They know what I do and how hard I work I know our offense and what's going on. With Tiki, we lost a leader and a lot of that leadership automatically falls to me, but you have to earn everything you get. I have to take that as a challenge and other guys have to step up also. When you see great teams that have won championships, you always have a leader, but it's a combination of everybody. Everybody has their role and everybody knows what their responsibilities are to the team and what their role is. It's about doing that and everybody coming together and supporting each other and having a great team attitude amongst the guys.
Q: Is that a role you embrace?
A: Yes. As a quarterback, as a player, you always want guys looking up to you. When it's crunch time and it's the fourth quarter and the outcome of the game is on the line, you want the guys looking into your eyes and having confidence and having faith that you're going to get it done and we're going to win this game. It doesn't just happen. You can't just say you're going to do it. You have to show your teammates that you are strong enough and you like being in that situation and that's what you hope for. In the NFL, all you can hope for is a chance to win in the fourth quarter. When you get those opportunities, you have to make the best of it.
