Throughout his 16-year career, New York Giants legend Eli Manning played alongside plenty of tough guys. In fact, Manning himself was among the toughest players on the field even though it wasn’t well-represented through his quirky personality.
But who would Manning say are the biggest “badass” teammates he played alongside?
While there are plenty of options, Manning narrowed it down back in September.
“We had a couple running backs with Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs,” Manning told Kevin Clark on This is Football. “Both of those guys, if I were ever to go into a fight I’d want those guys on my side. I think you would have to literally kill them to get them to stop coming after you.”
Manning specifically recalled Jacobs’ truck-stick hit on Green Bay Packers defensive back Charles Woodson in the 2007 NFC Championship Game.
“Brandon Jacobs… We’re in Green Bay (in the) NFC Championship Game,” Manning said. “We run outside and he meets Charles Woodson about four yards down the field. And I think Brandon — it’s like he never even knew Charles Woodson was there. Just totally ran right through him; Woodson kind of bounces off and it just set the tone for that game.”
Manning shared a similar memory of Bradshaw, who flattened New York Jets defensive back Brodney Pool en route to the endzone back in 2011.
“I think Ahmad, obviously, he had one versus the Jets in 2011,” Manning said. “He runs right through a safety at the goal line and just plows through ’em and goes into the endzone for us to kind of take the lead and keep the lead and to win that game.”
Both of those runs helped propel the Giants to Super Bowl titles. And there’s no denying just how badass both Jacobs and Bradshaw were.