No. 1 reason to boo
Sixteen months after stiff-arming the Chargers in the NFL’s 2004 draft, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning plays his first game in San Diego today. It’s no surprise, then, that boos will be flowing in San Diego-area sports bars. “People are hoping that Eli chokes,” said David Jones, assistant general manager of Sandbar Sports Grill in Mission Beach. “We took it as a personal insult.” Manning, remember, was selected No. 1 by the Chargers, even though he had warned them before the draft that he would never sign a contract with them. He was traded to the Giants shortly after. Not since Ryan Leaf, a former overall No. 2 pick and colossal flop, has a quarterback, or any other player for that matter, evoked so much bile from Chargers fans. “Ryan Leaf was a jerk, but at least he was a Charger,” said Ted Semprini, a part-time bartender and co-
owner of Players’ Sports Bar in Kearney Mesa. He said Manning “is riding the coattails of his brother and his dad. We were thinking he could be the next savior here. There’s a different kind
of hatred for this kid.”
