Eli Manning is long over his days of rooting for a particular team. As the Super Bowl draws ever nearer, most NFL fans have split into two camps, as expected. There are those who want to see the Chiefs win and there are those who either want to see the Eagles win or simply see the Chiefs lose. However, Eli is not interested in picking sides this time around.
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Eli doesn’t “root for the teams” anymore but the players whom he can relate to and knows well. On Up&Adams, he explained that it is hard for him to root for the Eagles, given his history with the team:
“It’s hard for me to say I’m rooting for the Eagles, a team that you play against my whole career for so many years. You wish for players to have that feeling. In my world I root for players, I don’t root for teams anymore.”
Manning put it perfectly—winning a championship is the result of an entire team’s effort. It’s not about QB vs. QB or just the opponent you defeated in the final. It’s about the collective journey and the individual contributions that make a team great.
While his feelings about the Eagles are complicated, he explained that he is rooting for guys like Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts due to their talent. He may not admit it, but it certainly sounds like the former Giants QB is pulling for the Eagles.
Manning wants Hurts and Barkley to have their defining Super Bowl moment, the kind that cements a legacy. They could be the ones to take down the mighty Chiefs—just as he and the Giants famously toppled the Patriots.
