Whether or not the San Diego Chargers would draft Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft remains one of the biggest stories in league history. Long before social media played the “will he or won’t he go to that team?” game with top prospects, Manning lived that life when he was the projected top pick of his draft class. Over the years, that story arc has taken on mythical proportions. And that Manning had a decorated career only adds to the lore.
But finally, in an appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, Eli Manning clears the air and peels back the curtain with the story behind that whole scenario:
Eli Manning explains what really went down with the San Diego Chargers pic.twitter.com/e8QDUHvxs0
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) May 16, 2026Eli Manning clears the air when it comes to the 2004 NFL Draft
A full transcription from Pro Football Talk:
“My parents really weren’t supportive. My dad didn’t like the idea. Now, he came to my defense and like supported me after everything was going down, but . . . he didn’t like that. And afterwards he took the brunt of a lot of the criticism because he came to my defense and people were saying, ‘Oh, you played in New Orleans all those years you didn’t win, so you’re trying to dictate like where your son’s going.’ And and he just bit his tongue and said, ‘Hey, this is what Eli wants to do and I support him’ and he did some media to try to save me from doing all the media and taking the hits.”
…
“San Diego had the first pick, I didn’t really want to go there. I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time.”
This is not the story I was expecting to be captivated by on a Sunday morning in mid-May, but here we are!
Eli Manning reacts during the Tug of War event at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesThe biggest bit of news (or at least, it’s news to me) is that Eli Manning, himself, was the one behind the push not to go to the Chargers. It had long been framed as his father, former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, as the mastermind behind his son refusing to play for the Chargers if they were to take him with the No.1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.. Instead, it was Eli — coming off a stellar collegiate career at Ole Miss — who was the one who was making the push.
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That Eli’s parents weren’t on board with this is another twist to this tale. Shout out to Archie Manning for falling on the sword for his son to get out of a bad situation. And, given the new information from the pod, that San Diego situation is messier than I remember it being at the time. I didn’t realize that there was drama between Chargers ownership, the front office, and head coach Marty Schottenheimer. This is such a fascinating look-back at an important piece of NFL history.
In the end, there is a part of me that wants to believe this is an all is well that ends well story. Eli Manning won two Super Bowls and had a career that merits consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, the Chargers ended up with Philip Rivers — a quarterback with a Hall of Fame résumé of his own. But there is also a part of me that wonders what would have happened if the Chargers stuck to their guns and kept Manning. What would’ve happened had Manning been sent to the Browns?
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