"It's a pretty unfortunate situation": When Tom Brady reacted to the end of Eli Manning's streak as Giants' starting QB

Former New York Giants ring of honor quarterback Eli Manning is best known for his Super Bowl victories over Tom Brady’s New England Patriots during their peak era. Although Brady achieved victories over many of his rivals, he could never summit Peyton’s younger brother on the grandest stage. Hence, Brady had immense respect for Eli Manning.

When Eli Manning suffered a dip in his performance in 2017, he was removed from the starting QB role in place of Geno Smith. This ended Manning's streak of 210 consecutive regular-season games started, which rubbed some fans the wrong way given the team was 2-9 and the season was essentially a lost cause.

However, Brady offered support to Eli. In an interview with Westwood One Radio in December 2017, Brady told ESPN’s Mike Reiss:

"I have nothing but the most respect for him and everything he's achieved and accomplished in his career.

"Obviously, being on the other side of two of those Super Bowl losses to an Eli Manning-led team, I just have so much respect for his dependability, for his consistency, for his toughness. You know that's really everything you want in an NFL player, and I think Eli has always provided that for the team. So, I think it's a pretty unfortunate situation.”

However, Brady understands this is part of the NFL, and players must learn to deal with such situations.

“I think there's always these types of situations,” Brady said. “As a fan growing up, I mean, to see Joe Montana playing in another uniform, and again, to see Jerry Rice or Ronnie Lott [in another uniform], you know guys that I really looked up to and admired, there's not many happy endings in sports, and you know that's just the way it is.”

The Giants selected Davis Webb in the 23rd pick of the third round with the hope of becoming the successor to Manning. However, the Giants' primary QB was known for his durability, having started 210 successive games from 2004 to 2017. Hence, Webb had to wait for months for any on-field actions.

Eli Manning refused coach Ben McAdoo's offer to maintain his record streak

When the Giants slipped to a 2-9 record in the 2017 season and were practically out of a playoff race, it opened a window of opportunity for Davis Webb and backup QB Geno Smith. Since the management had decided to use the remaining games to evaluate their young quarterback, Manning was asked to step away for a while.

However, Manning was also given an option to start the next few games to help maintain his streak. However, it came with a specific condition: Smith and Webb will get more playing time. But Manning rejected the offer.

“Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play," Manning said. "My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them.”

However, the Giants couldn’t do much in the remaining games as they ended up with a 3-13 season record. Manning became a starter again and eventually retired after the 2020 season.