At the time of writing, it's Friday morning, January 24th, 2020 CE. An unremarkable day, if not for impending weekend and, of course, the retirement of Eli Manning. After 15 seasons, two Super Bowls, and six trillion expressions, the most meme'd career in NFL history is finally coming to a close, adding some much-needed closure to a saga that began over two years ago, when Ben McAdoo first benched Manning for Geno Smith. It was a move that eventually got McAdoo fired, but the writing was on the wall. It was the beginning of the end for Eli Manning. Now it's the end of the end and we're all hurting.
But dry your eyes and wipe your snot, because as this supercut of Manning's best off-the-field moments proves, the real treasure was the memories we made along the way.
From hosting SNL to butchering orders at your local Dunkin' drive-thru, real-life Eli was worth his weight in gold. Giants fans will tell you that it was the Lombardi Trophies that mattered most. That stopping the Evil Empire not once BUT TWICE gave football fans a gift that they could never possibly repay. But they probably forgot about this . . .
Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go scrub out our earholes. Thanks for everything, Eli. Enjoy the beach.
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