LT Sports

When Eli Manning was first starting out as a quarterback in the NFL, I noticed something about his demeanor that bothered me as a  football fan. The thing that bothered me was his lack of emotion that he showed on the field.

He threw a touchdown. Nothing. He threw a pick. Nothing. His team was winning. Nothing. His team was losing. Nothing.

No matter what the situation was, Eli always remained the same.

When Manning struggled at first with the Giants, I said that his lack of emotion was hurting the team. I thought, “How can a guy who shows no emotion get his team pumped and playing their best for him?”

From what I had seen early on, I just believed that Eli Manning maybe wasn’t cut out for the NFL game.

Then it happened.

Manning started winning games, especially in clutch situations, and yet his demeanor still remained.

Now, instead of seeing his lack of emotion as a negative aspect of his game, I saw the positive aspect that it provided him: When most players are scared to death at the end of a game, Eli remained Eli. Basically, by Eli staying even-keeled, he had an advantage in crunch time over everybody else who went down a notch. He got better in the clutch because the people around him were getting worse.

This is why the Giants won so many close games during their Super Bowl run. When everyone’s emotions were high and they were playing their best in the beginning of games, the Giants did alright. However, at the end of games when the scores were close and defenders were nervous, Eli was at his biggest advantage.

In Manning’s first season as a starter, I would have never thought that his lack of emotion would be his most beneficial attribute. Now that I have seen what Manning can do, and even more so in the clutch, I can say that it is clear that it is.

Filed under: NFL