(gentle instrumental music) - Okay, unless it's a reality TV show, drama being the spotlight of anything doesn't sound very positive. It's night one of a 2004 NFL draft, and as owners of the number one pick, the San Diego Chargers fucked around and found out. They wanted a quarterback, and by all accounts, the top rated prospect of the draft was QB Eli Manning outta Ole Miss University. They had the number one pick, so they selected the number one guy. Simple enough. I said, simple! Damn, media members always trying to dramatize everything, labeling the draft as bizarre. What's so damn bizarre about a player fulfilling his wish? Why can't folks be happy? Well, that's a bit awkward. San Diego's decision to draft Eli Manning was a big deal. Eli Manning, first of his name, son of Archie, brother of MVP winning QB Peyton, was pretty damn good at slinging the football as well. In the '04 draft, teams were itching to add him to their roster to be the future franchise quarterback. The Chargers kind of brought this upon themselves, not in scaring Eli away, although that's kind of true as well, we'll get to that later, but more so Eli's disinterest in the org going public in the first place. Eli and his camp, which included his fame footballing dad, Archie, and agent Tom Condon, went to the Chargers and asked the organization to pass on drafting him. Eli wanted to keep things on the hush between him and the franchise, but Chargers' General Manager, A.J. Smith, took to the press and said, "Hey, can you believe this dude doesn't want to play for us?" That was the message at least, but it didn't appear to come straight from Eli. When Smith revealed the news during the week of the draft, it seemed like a game of telephone where Archie expressed to agent Tom Condon he'd rather his son played for the New York Giants, who owned the number four pick, and Condon in turn then relay that message to Smith. The GM understood Archie's wishes, but as a leader of the franchise, believed it was in the best interest of the organization to keep all their options open, meaning Eli was very much still in play. Smith holding his ground and not being bullied by outside demand seemed impressive, but in reality he didn't have solid footing. When Archie met with the Chargers in person earlier that same week, he had already voiced his concerns to the team about drafting his son. And for whatever reason, Smith treated Archie's position as a big secret he couldn't wait to get off his chest. Smith unnecessarily spilling the beans seemed like a terrible leverage play, but Pandora doesn't go back in the box, and once the info was out there, the Manning camp stood on business. While visiting the Giants for a workout, Archie confirmed the validity of the conversation with Smith, but denied ever mentioning any preference for Eli to land in New York. Although he did confirm talking with the NFL Commissioner about the issue. Condon took it up a notch and threatened that his client would sit out the entire season if San Diego ultimately drafted Eli, which wasn't an unheard of warning. In 1983, quarterback John Elway told the Baltimore Colts, who owned the number one pick, he'd rather play baseball than suited up for the franchise. The Colts ultimately drafted Elway to call his Bluff. But a week later, Baltimore owner, Robert Irsay, traded Elway to the Denver Broncos without then GM Ernie Accorsi's knowledge. Crazy enough, Accorsi later became the GM of the Giants and could have benefited being on the other side of a player forcing their way out of a situation. When asked if Smith saw himself getting Elway'd by Manning, he didn't even want to touch the topic. While now every owner, journalist, and their mother knew Eli didn't want to join the Chargers, his camp didn't give any specifics as to why, leaving ample room for speculation during a draft period where misinformation already runs rampant. For Archie, many believe Eli's dad simply wanted to protect him from a cursed career like he experienced during his days in the pros. Drafted second overall in 1971, Archie had an excellent career, mostly spent banished to a dismal New Orleans Saints team. Fans showed up to games with paper bags over their faces just to paint a picture of how trash those teams were. But at least Eli could spend his days in beautiful, sunny California and hang by the beach. The Charges couldn't be that bad, right? Well, let's just say Eli dodging San Diego was yet another blemish on the running problems the organization faced. When the franchise landed the second overall pick in the 1998 draft, San Diego got burned by selecting quarterback Ryan Leaf, who flamed out of the league shortly after. The Chargers could have very well selected Eli's brother, Peyton Manning, who the Colts debated taking first overall up till draft night. Leaf was famously known to have immaturity issues during his time in San Diego, but the team reportedly left him out to dry times, leaving an awful impression on the Mannings, as Leaf was friendly with the family. In 2001, strapped with the number one overall pick, the Charges decided to pass on drafting QB Michael Vick, trading the rights to the Atlanta Falcons, where Vick went on to be an immediate success, leading Atlanta to the playoffs in the second year. San Diego, on the other hand, was allergic to the playoffs, posting an a abysmal win-loss record since their last appearance in 1995. If missing the playoffs for eight straight years and whiffing on personnel decisions wasn't enough to stamp the Chargers as a bottom tier org in the NFL, having America's first football family say you weren't worth their time certainly didn't help. Then there was the curious case of agent Tom Condon. Besides repping Manning, Condon had a client list that included Chargers Head Coach, Marty Schottenheimer, star running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and supposed quarterback of the future of, Drew Brees. That supposed future wasn't even that long ago. In 2001, the same year they passed on Vick, San Diego selected Brees at the top of the second round with the 32nd overall pick. The Chargers planned to start quarterback Doug Flutie that season, but a pick of that nature indicated Brees would have a legitimate shot to be the guy going forward, as then offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, gushed about his abilities. In 2002, Brees earned the starting job and finished with the solid year, but those QB of the future plans hit a stall when he was benched in the middle of the following season. Seems a bit quick to give up on a guy, so the Chargers could stand Pat and give Brees another chance. Well, no. Smith didn't draft Brees, and in his second year as GM, he eyed either a veteran QB to take the reins or grab a fresh prospect in the draft. Smith also learned that Condon wasn't a fan of how Schottenheimer used quarterbacks, and with Tomlinson becoming a star in the league, it wouldn't make sense for the agent to place another dude on the roster who could potentially outshine his client. But as much fuss that was made about Manning and his camp not wanting to play for San Diego, Smith and the Chargers brass never flat out said Eli was their guy. Even before the Manning mess, one option for the Chargers was to trade down, and instead of swinging for the fences to land a franchise quarterback, grab a multitude of picks to help address the many desperate needs on the team. Smith was open to it all and ready to make a deal, only if it felt right. The calls came, but Smith kept his cards close to his vest. If Eli was the dude, no contract talks were being had days before decision time. The GM did his due diligence and exhausted his options in what was labeled a strong draft. The team had met with the University of Iowa tackle Robert Gallery, who was believed to be the best lineman in the draft and landed atop the big board of many pundits. The Cleveland Browns reportedly made a strong offer to San Diego to snag Gallery with the top pick, but Chargers brass believed that would open the door for division rival, Oakland Raiders, to snag Manning with the second pick. After trading top receiver David Boston in the off season, just a season after signing a new deal, the Chargers met with top receiver Larry Fitzgerald at the combine who could have filled a need out wide. Eli also wasn't the lone QB in this draft. Head coach Marty Schottenheimer praised Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger as well. San Diego reportedly even fancied Rivers heavily and had the option to trade down to acquire him later in the draft if they thought he was a better fit. The options seemed endless, and his team sent smokescreens one after another. Come draft day, Eli felt there was nothing left to say. All he could do was sit and await his fate. As the football world watched along, with the number one overall pick in the 2004 draft, the San Diego Charger selected... Wait, is that a hostage? Holy shit, they did it! Yes, that's Eli Manning standing alongside his family and the commish, holding a Chargers jersey with a visibly forced a smile on his face. They gave him the matching hat as well, but he didn't seem to wanna wear it. Was it too small? Did he not like the colors? Oh, he really just didn't intend to play for San Diego. Journalists were calling the Chargers the new Cincinnati Bengals after their decision. For context, Cincinnati didn't have a winning season for 13 years in a row leading up to the draft. So yeah, not good. But Smith and the Chargers holding their ground and what could ultimately be a stalemate between their franchise and their reluctant topic pick. Wait a damn second, is that Eli with a real smile on his face, now flexing a Giants jersey AND wearing the hat? What the hell happened? About an hour into the draft, New York selected quarterback Phillip Rivers fourth overall and flipped his rights to San Diego alongside a package of picks. It was a shocking development as the Chargers seemed fully prepared to roll with Eli, but Smith felt confident in the return for his franchise. Many experts felt the same, believing the Giants kind of got fleeced, giving up way too much to acquire Eli, which was a win-win for San Diego as Eli seemed fully prepared to sit. Ultimately, the trade worked out well for both franchises as the Giants went on to win two Super Bowls with Eli, and the Chargers found years of sustained success, escaping the basement floor of the NFL with Rivers as their franchise QB. But now, years removed from the trade that shook up the league, all parties involved could come clean. Smith said it took a covert operation to execute the transaction. Besides brief discussions, Smith had very little contact with the Giants leading up to draft day. Smith claimed to have used what he called a shadow within the organization, purposely dropping info that he had full confidence would ultimately get back to New York. The leaked talk was meant to get the Giants in gear, so once Smith did make the call on draft day for a trade, New York will be prepared to make an offer that San Diego deemed sufficient. And boom, once the call was made right at the expected time during the draft, the deal was done. Honestly, it just seems like unnecessary Jedi mind tricks on the account of Smith, who could have brokered a deal leading up to the draft the entire week if he knew that was the plan all along. But hey, I'm just a video producer and not a GM, so as long as it worked to the Charges benefit, that's the bottom line. While Eli seemed resistant for years to explaining his reasoning for dismissing San Diego, at one point saying he flat out forgot, in post-retirement, he felt compelled to finally let it all out. During the 2021 podcast episode of "10 Questions With Kyle Brandt", Eli revealed it wasn't his dad who mastermind the whole thing, but instead just wanted to take the heat off him. Throughout the draft process, Eli just felt San Diego wasn't in the right shape as a franchise and used the little pull he had as leverage. The truth shall set you free. In a sweet bit of irony for Smith and San Diego, the Chargers ended up as one of the two teams that Eli faced but never beat during his 16 year career. San Diego never won a Super Bowl while Manning was with the Giants, but they did at least hold him winless during his career. That's something, at least. As the power slowly shifts more and more toward the players, it wouldn't be surprising if an athlete refused to play for a franchise and we see a similar trade happen at the professional level. History seems to repeat itself. But in the age of information, where we can get nonstop updates at the tip of our fingers, it'll be tough to imagine a trade of this magnitude happening right up until the final hour, At least, unless another franchise is willing to tell on themselves, similarly to San Diego. (gentle instrumental music) (gentle instrumental music) Thanks for watching this episode of "Big Deal". If you enjoyed this, we got plenty of more heat for you on YouTube. But if you're looking for something extra special, you should subscribe to our Patreon. There we have early releases of episodes, exclusive things like our podcast, "Phys Ed", and so, so much more. (gentle instrumental music)