Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback

by Ralph Vacchiano, Ernie Accorsi (Foreword by)

Overview

When Eli Manning found teammate Plaxico Burress in the end zone with just 35 seconds remaining in Super Bowl XLII, he completed what was perhaps the greatest game-winning drive and unlikely upset in Super Bowl history. But the drive, which also included a remarkable escape and pass completion to unheralded receiver David Tyree, was the culmination of years of promise and development. Champion quarterbacks aren't made overnight.

With Manning, the Super Bowl MVP, as its focal point, New York Daily News Giants beat writer Ralph Vacchiano's Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback is a fascinating insider's look at the National Football League, how stars are made and crushed, and how fortunes are won and lost on the performance of one man: the quarterback. From the bold draft day trade that brought Manning to New York, through his dramatic ups and downs on and off the field, his first training camp to his last-minute heroics in Super Bowl XLII, Vacchiano takes a candid and revealing look at the people and events that made Manning's and his 2007 Giants' success one of the greatest stories in modern sports history. Complete with exclusive interviews with NFL stars, coaches, and executives and a foreword by former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, Vacchiano uses his unfettered access to the world champion Giants to present a true, behind-the scenes look at the quarterback and team that defied all of the experts and oddsmakers to pull off one of the most phenomenal upsets in pro football history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602393172
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	09/03/2008
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	400,703
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Ralph Vacchiano is an award-winning sportswriter for the New York Daily News, where he has worked ten years as one of the nation's top NFL writers. He lives with his wife, Kara, and his daughter, Alexandra, in West Caldwell, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Foreword Ernie Accorsi ix

1 "He did what we drafted him to do" 1

2 "Call it magic" 11

3 "To me, they were just out there playing ball" 21

4 "It's my little brother" 29

5 "You just have to feel it" 39

6 "You can't overpay DiMaggio" 51

7 "It's just a bad situation" 73

8 "Excellent huddle command" 81

9 "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" 93

10 "I can't watch this" 103

11 "You hope he can be like his brother" 115

12 "You can't measure things like heart" 133

13 "The best free-agent signing we ever made" 145

14 "It's going to be torture" 157

15 "You're not the little brother here" 171

16 "The most significant relationship in all of sports" 187

17 "This is where you want to be" 201

18 "The post-game press conference isn't the problem" 211

19 "For whatever reason, it's clicking" 227

20 "We know what it takes to beat them" 239

21 "He's got to do it now" 251

22 "Winning a championship is bigger than that" 267

23 "He is elite. Period." 277

24 "Eli, it's not you. It's not you." 291

Acknowledgments 301

About the Author 305

Editorial Reviews

New York Daily News sportswriter Vacchiano chronicles the journey of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and how he went from reviled to revered in the eyes of fickle Big Apple sports fans. Vacchiano starts with Manning's career at the University of Mississippi, exploring the last-minute deal that allowed the quarterback to come to New York, and Manning's rocky rookie season with the Giants and the struggles he endured in escaping the shadows cast by older brother Peyton and father Archie, both established quarterbacks. With insight from an abundance of Manning's coaches and teammates, and a well-documented chronology of the week-to-week roller-coaster ride of a young football player, Vacchiano's story culminates with Manning rewarding the faith the Giants had in him with a Super Bowl title. Still, while Vacchiano supports the story well with plenty of statistics and analysis from a wide range of football people, the reader learns little about what Eli Manning is like, aside from the three hours fans see him each Sunday. Vacchiano does compare Eli to the "stereotypical little brother, standing in the background as if he's trying to hide" compared to the overwhelming presence that is older sibling Peyton. But relationships with teammates are only touched upon. (Sept.)

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Publishers Weekly

What makes this book a must-read for Giants fans—for all football-lovers, in fact—is Ralph Vacchiano’s reporting”
—Peter King, Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports

“With some groundbreaking reporting and skillful storytelling, Ralph Vacchiano has taken a story that we think we know, and added new insights, new perspectives and new information—not the least of which is how the late Wellington Mara nearly derailed the trade that put Eli Manning in a Giants uniform. Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback is not only a compelling account of the unlikely rise of the young Manning, but it provides any student of the game with a detailed blueprint on how to build a championship team the right way.”
—Sal Paolantonio, National Correspondent, ESPN

“In a universe glutted with pro football books, Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback stands out in every facet. Ralph Vacchiano has fashioned a masterpiece of brilliant, thorough reporting and page-turning reading. The closing chapters are as compelling as the tensest thrillers ever produced for the screen. How good is this book? It’s in the front row of the calss and will be regarded as a classic.”
—Jeff Davis, author of Papa Bear: The Life and Legacy of George Halas

“What makes this book a must-read for Giants fans—for all football-lovers, in fact—is Ralph Vacchiano’s reporting”
—Peter King, Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports

“With some groundbreaking reporting and skillful storytelling, Ralph Vacchiano has taken a story that we think we know, and added new insights, new perspectives and new information—not the least of which is how the late Wellington Mara nearly derailed the trade that put Eli Manning in a Giants uniform. Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback is not only a compelling account of the unlikely rise of the young Manning, but it provides any student of the game with a detailed blueprint on how to build a championship team the right way.”
—Sal Paolantonio, National Correspondent, ESPN

“In a universe glutted with pro football books, Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback stands out in every facet. Ralph Vacchiano has fashioned a masterpiece of brilliant, thorough reporting and page-turning reading. The closing chapters are as compelling as the tensest thrillers ever produced for the screen. How good is this book? It’s in the front row of the calss and will be regarded as a classic.”
—Jeff Davis, author of Papa Bear: The Life and Legacy of George Halas

From the Publisher

“What makes this book a must-read for Giants fans—for all football-lovers, in fact—is Ralph Vacchiano’s reporting.”

Peter King