It is safe to say that in the previous two seasons, New York Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning hasn’t played on his usual level. His production was inconsistent while Giants missed the playoffs in both years while managing to win just eight games in total during this period.
This caused many analysts and Giants’ fans to become vocal in their opinion that Manning should retire and that it’s time for a younger quarterback to take over. But the 38-year-old two-times Super Bowl MVP isn’t exactly sharing their opinion as he still enjoys playing the game.
“You take it year by year,” – Manning told nola.com’s Rod. “I’ve been blessed going into my 16th year. That’s been a blessing in itself. I love what I’m doing. I love the work that goes into it. You never know when it’s going to be your last year or when it’s going to be the end for you, so you try to take advantage of the years you’re here and enjoy every moment.”
Giants are already preparing for the life after Eli Manning, as they drafted Duke’s Daniel Jones sixth overall in this year’s draft to be his successor. But despite having a youngster waiting to take his spot, Manning isn’t planning to “rush into retirement.”
“I’m not rushing into retirement, and Peyton’s not telling me to rush into it,” – he added. “I still love being around the guys and the teammates and playing this game. I’m going to play it for as long as I think I can hang with these guys.”
Despite the criticism, Manning has actually had a statistically pretty good season in 2018. He completed career-high 66.0 percent of his passes while throwing for 4,299 yards, which was most since his last Pro Bowl year in 2015.
