Eli Manning will always be remembered as a Giants legend, and fans, who have endured enough over the past five years, are hoping that a new quarterback or strategy will bring the team back to the golden days when Eli lined up behind the scrimmage line. Surely, the former QB shares the same hope—and so does his son, Charlie.
Advertisement
Eli attended the game at MetLife this Sunday with his son to watch his former team face the New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, the miserable season continued for the NFC East team, as a blocked game-tying field goal handed the Giants their eighth straight loss. However, it hasn’t stopped Manning’s son, Charlie, from cheering them on.
On his Instagram Story, Eli shared a selfie with Charlie at the game, captioned, “Charlie is a loyal fan.” The six-year-old wasn’t wearing any New York gear, so his fandom might still be undecided. For now, though, he seems to like his dad’s team.
— Semper (@Semper152892) December 9, 2024
Finding any loyal Giants fans is growing increasingly harder as the games go on. After the franchise let Saquon Barkley walk to an in-division rival, many saw it as the final straw. Since then, it’s been nothing but paper bags, empty seats, and a chorus of boos around MetLife Stadium.
The resale value of tickets has gone as low as $1. Fans are even hiring pilots to fly messages over the stadium to voice their frustrations. It’s a complete dumpster fire for the team right now. What’s even more worrisome: the Giants might not have any fans before the rebuild is complete.
Sports columnist Mike Vaccaro called Giants fans an “endangered species” for a reason. At a recent game at MetLife, he observed that the crowd was predominantly older, with a noticeable lack of younger fans.
Surprisingly, however, attendance numbers tell a different story, as the Giants still rank third in home attendance and seventh in road attendance.
While the franchise surely has seen a ton of incompetence in recent years, especially in the front office, Eli Manning won them plenty of fans in the late 2000s. But those fans are seemingly starting to go by the wayside. The fandom isn’t being passed generationally because the Giants have only won one playoff game in the past 14 years.
Even Archie Manning’s grandson, Arch, is planning to avoid the Giants as an NFL landing spot. Currently, a redshirt freshman for the Texas Longhorns, Arch won’t be available for the NFL Draft until 2026. That said, when his grandfather was asked who he wanted Arch to play for in the future, without hesitation, he answered the Dallas Cowboys — which would be fitting for the Longhorn product.
“I hope he’ll play three years in Texas,” Archie said, as per Marca. “Nobody’s ever asked me that. Right off the bat, if somebody asked me I’d say Cowboys.”
Whatever it is holding the Giants back, they need to figure it out. It’s been years of mismanagement at this point, and it starts up top with the decision-making. While Eli and his son Charlie are still fans of the team, if they don’t turn it around quickly, they could see their top attendance numbers plummet even further.
