Media MonsterNHL

Eli Manning Told The Bucs He Was Taking A Knee

Eli Manning went on Mike Francesa’s WFAN radio show to talk about that controversial final play on Sunday, in which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went after the ball (and him) despite the fact that it was a kneel-down situation. Here’s video in case you missed it.

This was the play that led to Tom Coughlin and Greg Schiano’s postgame argument, and to me asking Glenn during the podcast whether Schiano is a dick or not. In any event, Eli told Francesa that he informed the Bucs, pre-snap, that he’d be kneeling down. Bob’s Blitz has video, and here’s the transcript via Sports Radio Interviews:

On the play by Tampa Bay at the end of the game when the Giants were lining up to take a knee:

“I guess certain teams you might say ‘hey watch out for a cheap shot.’ That’s what we call it. A lot of teams will ask in those situations ‘are you taking a knee’ and I will tell them ‘hey we’re taking a knee so we’re not firing off.’ We don’t tell our lineman to fire off and hit them on that last play. (Host: So there is an acknowledgment usually at the end of the game, was there that yesterday?) I said it. I said as I walked up, ‘hey we’re taking a knee’ but obviously they were down and ready and had a feeling they were about to fire off. There’s nothing I can really do about it. I have to make sure I get the snap and the only thing I’m worried about right there is securing the ball and making sure we get the win.”

If he was more upset that Tampa Bay fired off the ball or that they went low on the Giants offensive linemen:

“I think it’s one thing to come off a little bit and another thing to have everybody right there diving in at the offensive linemen’s legs. Just a possibility of getting someone hurt and on a play where we’re taking a knee to end the game and people are coming, firing in and trying to get a cheap shot and trying to possibly hurt somebody.”

Schiano, meanwhile, is still standing by his decision to tell his team to go after the ball.

Follow Dan Fogarty