New York Giants great Eli Manning has played in his fair share of all-time games. Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI immediately come to mind, but there were many others.
Manning’s 2011 NFC Championship performance against the San Francisco 49ers is the stuff of legend. On a smaller scale, the same can be said about his performance at the grand opening of AT&T Stadium back in 2009.
Fans might recall that Manning led the Giants on a game-winning drive against the Dallas Cowboys, souring the grand opening of Jerry Jones’ new digs. Easy E then proceeded to sign the locker room wall, “First win in the New Stadium.”
On Friday night at Fanatics Fest in New York City, Manning joined a panel of other Super Bowl champions and fielded some questions from ex-Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer. He was asked if he could go back in time and play a specific game over again, which would it be.
Manning did not hesitate and his answer may surprise you.
“I’m going back to Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game,” Manning said, as transcribed by Empire Sports Media. “I just want to feel that coldness again.”
At the time, that game was the third-coldest game played in NFL history. Temperatures dipped to -4 degrees and with the wind chill, they bottomed out at -24.
16 years later, Giants-Packers is still the fifth-coldest game ever played in NFL history.
“I know Plaxico (Burress) loved it,” Manning laughed. “He was fired up that game. Something was working that game. I remember we used to go out in pre-game. It was before every game, I would go with Plaxico and Amani Toomer and we would have about a 25-minute throwing session and we would go through all the routes and do our routine.
“And all of a sudden, we’re about five minutes through the routine, and they’re not catching anything with their hands. They’re body-catching everything, they’re jumping up, their hands are all frozen. And I kind of looked at them, they’re shivering a little bit, I’m like, ‘Are y’all loose? Are y’all warmed up?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’re good, let’s go to the locker room.'”
Despite the cold, the Manning-to-Burress connection was hot. They linked up 11 times for 151 yards as Burress completely undressed All-Pro cornerback Al Harris.
Fellow Giants great and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Michael Strahan, was also on the panel with Manning and was shocked with his answer.
“That’s the one game you want to replay?” Strahan asked in obvious disagreement.
“Yep. Let’s go!” Manning replied.
Manning’s toughness was his most underrated characteristic and even in retirement, that edge remains.
