If Eli Manning is really out here slinging fake memorabilia for profit; as these leaked e-mails seem to imply, then he’s definitely in the wrong and will probably deserve any punishment the NFL doles out to him…if any.
However, disgraced New Jersey governor Chris Christie is not the right person to be calling anyone a liar, which is exactly what he called Manning in a radio interview Friday morning on NYC’s WFAN 660-AM:
“He got caught,” Christie said of Manning, the Giants’ quarterback, while guest-hosting the “Boomer & Carton” morning show on WFAN 660-AM in New York City.
The New Jersey governor also compared Manning to his older brother, legendary former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, who is usually considered the more accomplished of the two.
“Could you ever imagine Peyton being involved in this?” Christie asked. “No, definitely not. Peyton’s smarter.”
Christie, an avid Dallas Cowboys fan continued to lay into the Giants organization, suggesting the team owner, John Mara be held responsible along with Manning himself:
“The Giants participated in this as well, so John Mara’s going to have to open the checkbook,” the governor said. “Now there’s all kinds of ramifications for the Giants as a brand. Are they a lying cheating franchise?”
Christie added that the Giants’ involvement is “an open question.”
“I’m not saying that John Mara knew,” he said.
The Giants have come out in defense of Manning, saying the e-mails were taken out of “context”:
“The email, taken out of context, was shared with the media by an unscrupulous memorabilia dealer and his counsel who for years has been seeking to leverage a big payday,” McCarter & English, the law firm representing the Giants in the matter, said. “The email predates any litigation, and there was no legal obligation to store it on the Giants server. Eli Manning is well known for his integrity and this is just the latest misguided attempt to defame his character.”
Christie shot down the notion of the email being taken out of context, calling the Giants response “a politician’s non-answer”:
“The email was taken out of context? The context? It looks like it’s a pretty complete back and forth,” the governor said.
“And by the way, they presumably have possession of the emails,” he added. “They represent Eli. So, if it’s out of context, put it in context. Release the other things where Eli’s like, ‘Just joking.'”
“Give a good statement or shut up,” Christie added about the statement.
Chris Christie would definitely know something about giving politician’s “non-answers”, that’s for sure.