Terry Bradshaw says benched Giants QB Eli Manning should ‘pack bags’ and ‘go home’

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw said if he were New York Giants QB Eli Manning he would “pack my bags and I’d go home” now that the Manning has been benched.

“I understand why they did it, but it is a hard pill to swallow for Eli,” Bradshaw told Fox Business on Wednesday. 

Manning was replaced as the Giants’ starter Tuesday in favor of rookie quarterback Daniel Jones after the Giants got off to an 0-2 start. Coach Pat Shurmur announced that the decision was “more about Daniel moving forward than about Eli.”

The 38-year-old Manning has been the starting signal caller in New York for the past 15 seasons. Bradshaw, who played all 14 of his seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, empathized with Manning’s situation. 

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“I hope Eli’s OK with it, because he’s such a good dude,” said Bradshaw, now a Fox Sports analyst. “I hope he’s OK with it. I’m sure he isn’t. If they came to me in Pittsburgh after two weeks and they said, ‘Terry, we’re going to have to go with so-and-so,’ I’d shake their hands, I’d pack my bags and I’d go home, because that would be a hard pill to swallow after all of that.”

Manning piloted New York to two Super Bowls and had tallied 232 starts during the last 233 Giants regular-season games, while becoming the franchise’s career leader in passing yards, touchdown passes and completed passes. Yet back-to-back losing seasons and poor offensive production prompted the change. Manning has thrown for 556 yards and two touchdowns against interceptions this season.

Jones, a first-round draft pick for the Giants in March, is slated to start Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

“I feel for him, I truly do,” Bradshaw added of Manning. “That’s a horrible position to be in after so many great years as a Giant.”

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