Eli Manning ruined opening night in the House that Jerry Built with a 33-31 Giants victory.
And just in case anyone in Dallas forgot, Manning signed a concrete column in the visitor’s locker room for posterity.
“It’s a pretty common thing. I was asked to sign it,” Manning said. “It wasn’t like I just went there and signed it. I didn’t have a pen on me or anything.”
Manning even added the final score, the date, and “first win in the new stadium” as a flourish.
“It was all me,” Manning admitted to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger Thursday. “Yeah, I’ve heard a few things about it. But they’ll eventually get over it.”
Apparently, the signature has caused a minor controversy in Dallas even though Manning says he was asked to sign it by a locker room attendant. Linebacker Bradie James seems offended.
“We won’t forget that,” James said.
The recent Cowboys-Giants rivalry has given the Cowboys more to forget about than a signature. The playoff loss after the 2007 season comes to mind.
This Dallas team has a unique chance to push New York’s season to the brink in what should be the Cowboys’ last trip to the Meadowlands.
Then they can do whatever they want to the locker room afterwards.
UPDATE: Wade Phillips isn’t buying Eli’s excuse.
“It wasn’t anybody from our organization that asked him,” Phillips said. “Things come back around in this league. I respect the team we play. That’s the way I approach the game and I expect our players to do the same thing.”
Really? This is what the Cowboys are talking about during the week of a big game? We’d think knocking out the Giants when they are down would be motivation enough.