One last true farewell: Giants waste no time retiring Eli Manning’s No. 10

Eli Manning stood inside MetLife Stadium two weeks ago and said Sunday’s jersey retirement would be “one last true farewell and a thank you to the fans, the organization and all my teammates.”

“I just kinda choose to remember the good times in this stadium, and the good times in my career, and this one will be another one I can add to that memory,” Manning said before the Giants’ home opener, wearing a blue sport coat instead of a blue jersey.

So that is what Sunday’s halftime Ring of Honor ceremony should be for Manning: a heartfelt farewell, an opportunity to reflect on the good times.

His No. 10 will be the 12th number retired in franchise history, right next to another two-time Super Bowl champion QB, No. 11, Phil Simms.

His longevity, two Super Bowls and postseason heroics will always stand the test of time as iconic in both Giants and NFL history.

Manning will celebrate all of that on Sunday.

He admitted in a Thursday Zoom call, though, that the franchise’s futility in his final years became too much, prompting his 2019 retirement.

“I enjoyed the preparation. I could’ve gotten back into that part, but just the losing, the everything, just the grind of it all,” Manning said. “I don’t know if I could have totally got[ten] back into all of that. More just the losses hurt more. They affect your sleep. They affect your week. It affects family life with my wife and kids and it just got too much.”

Manning is doing just fine now, however, and in many ways it’s like he never left.

He is working for the Giants in community relations and marketing. He is on national TV every week, hosting an alternate Monday Night Football broadcast with his older brother Peyton. He has a Frank’s Red Hot endorsement deal and commercials.

Still, everyone in New York and New Jersey will always remember him as “10.”

He is the iron man who made 210 consecutive regular season starts, who was named the NFL’s co-winner of the 2016 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, who hit David Tyree and Plaxico Burress and Mario Manningham while the world was watching and lifted the Lombardi Trophy twice.

How the No. 10 came to adorn Manning’s jersey when he did all of that is a funny story.

In college, the Ole Miss staff first offered Eli his father Archie’s retired No. 18, since Eli had worn it in high school. Eli declined and instead asked for No. 10, in part because he had never worn it at any level of football before.

“I said, ‘I’ll go 10. I kinda like it,” he recalled.

When Manning got to the Giants, though, punter Jeff Feagles was wearing No. 10. So before Manning met the New York media, he had to quickly work out a price for the exchange.

“And I remember on the way from where I was drafted at Madison Square Garden to Giants Stadium to be welcomed, someone had Feagles on the line and we worked out a deal real quick for a trip to Florida,” Manning said Thursday with a smile.

Manning didn’t want to push for the number if it was going to become a “big story.” So No. 10 almost didn’t happen.

“If it was going to be something outrageous, I probably would’ve moved on and found another number,” he said. “I didn’t know what was available at the time, but it was very easy. I said if I could keep it, I’d like to keep it. And the rest is history.”

The rest is history, and not all of it is good history.

Manning was brutally honest on Thursday about his own shortcomings at the end, admitting that “I wasn’t playing at the level I used to be playing and so it was just time to hang it up.”

And it certainly will feel awkward and uncomfortable if the Giants (0-2) are still languishing through Sunday’s first half against the Atlanta Falcons just before Manning takes the stage.

Nothing will diminish the significance of Sunday for Manning, though: that he and his No. 10 are taking their rightful place in franchise history, and that he gets an opportunity for one last true farewell.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The Baltimore Ravens (1-1) lost four defensive players to the COVID-19/reserve list for Sunday’s game at Detroit (0-2): LB Jaylon Ferguson, who reportedly tested positive, and close contacts in LB Justin Houston, NT Brandon Williams and DT Justin Madubuike. Close contacts are only required to spend an extended time on the reserve list if they are unvaccinated. …

Penalties are up around the league. Officials assessed 214 penalties in Week 1 and 221 in Week 2, per the Talk of Fame Network. There was never a weekend in 2020 when 200 penalties were assessed. The high was 198. … That total includes 11 taunting penalties in 32 games due to the league’s new emphasis on curbing players’ celebrations in an opponent’s face. Washington coach Ron Rivera said the emphasis was put in place because “we’re just trying to make sure we don’t have a brawl on our hands.” There was not a “brawl” problem in the NFL before this ludicrous, tone-deaf emphasis was created, Ron. Try again. …

Andrew Luck’s abrupt 2019 retirement continues to haunt the Indianapolis Colts (0-2). QB Carson Wentz already has injuries to both ankles, and even if he gives it a go on Sunday against the Titans, Indy will hold its breath that he can play well and finish the game. GM Chris Ballard and coach Frank Reich have done plenty right with the Colts’ franchise and roster, but they’ve been unable to recover at the most important position in the sport. …

Jacoby Brissett will start at QB for the Miami Dolphins (1-1) against the Raiders (2-0) at Las Vegas. Tua Tagovailoa has broken ribs. Brian Flores’ team desperately needs to bounce back after an embarrassing 35-0 home loss to the division rival Buffalo Bills. …

The NFL’s third-ever International Combine will be held in London for the first time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 12. It was held in Australia in 2018 and Germany in 2019. There will also be a combine in Mexico in late October for athletes unable to travel to London. This is the combine where Giants running back Sandro Platzgummer earned his opportunity to join the team through the international pathway program back in 2020. “We hope to discover new talent, create more global exposure of the game and provide an opportunity for participants to compete at the highest level,” said Damani Leech, the COO of NFL International.