Eli Manning was drafted by the New York Giants the same year the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead to the Boston Red Sox and helped that team break the Curse of the Bambino. But while tensions were high in the Bronx at the start, Manning grew to learn from and appreciate the calm, giving manner with which Yankees legend Derek Jeter handled the New York City sports media scene.
In an interview on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast released Wednesday, Manning detailed what he took from Jeter that helped him stay even-keeled as the longtime QB in the Meadowlands.
“The way he treated the media, he was always available, always willing to talk to them,” Manning said of Jeter. “Never said too much. Gave them answers but wasn’t making headlines, wasn’t calling people out.”
“He took the blame when there was blame to be accepted, and he also dished out all the credit when things were going well. I think that’s kind of the way you do it as a quarterback, as a head coach.”
After his tumultuous arrival in New York and a turnover-filled start to his career, Manning learned to not expect praise or hype. And he watched how Jeter approached that dynamic.
“Both those two positions (QB and coach), as the shortstop of the Yankees, you’re probably not going to get too much credit when things are going well (or) too much blame when things are going bad,” Manning explained. “And so you just have got to make sure you’re doing the opposite, spreading it out and accepting it at times. And understanding we have the big shoulders, we can handle this, it’s not going to affect my performance the next day, the next week.”
Manning won Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011 for New York. Jeter won his last World Series in 2009.
The two were linked to a moment in time in New York sports history, but they developed a relationship and mutual respect behind the scenes as well.
“I definitely talked to him and was around him as a young player,” Manning added. “I watched him, how he handled everything. He was a great teammate and teammates respected him and he always had their back.”
Handling the limelight well clearly benefitted both stars. Manning and Jeter are both in the early stages of promising broadcasting careers at Fox and ESPN, respectively. Maybe all those crazy headlines and aggressive questions helped.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.