Within the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, two athletes — New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning — have been the toast of the city in New York Metropolis because of their a number of championships and subsequent journeys via the Canyon of Heroes. And whereas the 2 had a long-standing relationship as their respective careers intertwined, by no means earlier than had they publicly mentioned their careers with one another out within the open till now.
On an episode of The Eli Manning Present that was launched on the New York Giants’ YouTube channel, that includes a dialog between Manning and Derek Jeter, they recalled their shared experiences of being a star athlete in New York. One of many main anecdotes that got here up throughout their dialogue was the recollection of a telephone name from Jeter to Manning in 2004 after Manning had posted a 0.0 quarterback score in a 37-14 beatdown by the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.
“You known as me after that week, we have been about to play a recreation, and also you simply mentioned ‘Hey, hold grinding, hold your head up, hold working. New York’s a tricky place,'” Manning mentioned. “It meant quite a bit to me, as a result of after I was coming into New York, you have been the position mannequin. You have been form of ‘Hey, that is the place you need to get to. You need to get to Derek Jeter-level.’ And a man who simply got here in, performed in New York successful championships, but additionally the way you acted off the sector with such class. So I admire that telephone name.”
“Once you’re in New York, this can be a powerful city to play in as a result of the expectation ranges are so excessive,” Jeter mentioned. “And I do not care the place you come from, it is an adjustment interval. And I had been the place you have been. I got here up and struggled, everybody struggles right here. However I simply needed to name you and allow you to know that I am right here in the event you ever want something.”
Among the many different notable tales that Manning and Jeter shared included when Jeter invited Manning to his charity golf occasion in Florida, an expertise which left the youthful of the Manning brothers feeling somewhat starstruck.
“I keep in mind I used to be on a bus going to the golf match. I am on there with Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Reggie Jackson,” Manning mentioned. “I am like ‘I feel I am on the flawed bus. I must be driving this factor, I shouldn’t be allowed (on).'”
“You have been positively on the fitting bus,” Jeter laughed. “Typically you do not know it on the time, however you have been on the fitting bus.”
Manning and Jeter additionally mentioned successful championships in New York, the worth of taking part in for one group their whole profession, coping with the New York media, and rather more.
The interval the place Jeter and Manning performed was a charmed time within the lengthy and storied historical past of New York sports activities. Jeter arrived first in 1995, and he would win 5 World Sequence titles and grow to be captain of the Yankees throughout his 20-year profession in pinstripes. Manning would arrive in 2004 and lead the Giants to victories in Tremendous Bowls XLII and XLVI, successful MVP honors in each video games and taking part in his whole profession with Massive Blue.
