NFL

Eli Manning Got Hit Very, Very Hard Last Night (Video)

The Jets and Giants played the first (American) football game at the new Meadowlands stadium last night. The contest featured some fun preseason-y things like a breakout performance from a previously-little-known rookie (Victor Cruz, who had six catches – three of them for scores – for 145 yards), but was perhaps most noteworthy for an absolutely brutal hit on Eli Manning.

The setup: Manning began dropping back to pass – only Brandon Jacobs thought it was a running play (UPDATE: Manning said the play was his fault). The confusion caused the two to collide, knocking Manning’s helmet partially off – and Manning himself out of sorts. Then, to make matters worse, Calvin Pace came in unblocked on Manning’s blind side and absolutely pounded him, knocking his helmet clean off. And on the way down, Manning hit his now-helmetless head on Jim Leonhard‘s face mask.

Manning left the field bloodied, but said in a statement later he felt “fine,” that “it’s really not an injury,” and that he “feel[s] like [he] could go back out and play right now.” Watch the video below and you’ll see why that would actually be a pretty amazing feat.