Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Eli Manning issues stern warning to Odell Beckham before Pro Bowl Draft

In theory, being a Pro Bowl captain sounds like a pretty easy job: You get a free trip to Hawaii, you get to pick your team and you get paid at least $29,000 just for showing up to the game.
Unfortunately for Odell Beckham, that second thing could get a little complicated during Wednesday night's Pro Bowl Draft (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Beckham will be teaming up with fellow captain Aaron Donald to pick one of the teams in the Pro Bowl (Devonta Freeman and Geno Atkins will pick the other team).
Beckham and Donald will obviously need a quarterback for their team, and let's just say that things could get awkward if Beckham doesn't draft his own quarterback, Eli Manning.
During a conference call on Wednesday, Manning made it clear that there will be consequences if Beckham doesn't draft him.
"I told Odell, I said 'Odell hey, I know you're captain, don't feel any pressure to draft me,'" Manning said. "'But if you don't draft me, don't expect to catch any balls next year. No pressure at all.' I left it at that, and I think he'll make an educated decision at the draft."
It's a brilliant ploy by Eli to shoot up his Pro Bowl draft stock.
Now, Eli's obvious joking here, but it definitely would be awkward if Beckham doesn't draft him. If Beckham decides to leave Eli hanging, that means he went with another quarterback. The five other quarterbacks in the Pro Bowl are Russell Wilson, Tyrod Taylor, Derek Carr, Jameis Winston and Teddy Bridgewater.
There's only one two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback on that list, and it's Eli Manning.
 
UPDATE (7:45 p.m. ET, Jan. 27): It looks like Eli's threat worked. Captain Beckham took Manning with his first pick in the Pro Bowl Draft.
Things could get awkward if Odell Beckham doesn't draft Eli Manning. (USATSI)

Things could get awkward if Odell Beckham doesn't draft Eli Manning. (USATSI)

No comments:

Post a Comment