What does Eli Manning — recently retired NFL icon, two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Giants, husband and father of four young children — do as he waits out a global pandemic in his New Jersey home?
He finally takes the plunge and joins Twitter.
Now we’ve seen everything.
Manning, 39, had been staunchly anti-social media during his 16 years with the Giants, not only as a non-participant but also as an uninterested non-observer. As he takes time off to figure out what comes next for him, he will do so as a member of the Twitterverse.
Do not expect him to post anything that gets him banned from Twitter.
It did not take long for Manning’s presence on social media to resonate around the NFL. Tom Brady, who has 1.1 million followers on Twitter, took a playful jab at the quarterback who beat him twice in Super Bowls with fourth-quarter comebacks. Brady welcomed Manning to Twitter and wrote, “In typical fashion, you never showed up until the 4th quarter anyway.’’
Manning responded by cracking a joke about Brady’s golf game ahead of the Buccaneers quarterback and partner Phil Mickelson taking on his brother Peyton and Tiger Woods in a match for charity on Sunday.
“Hope your golf game is as polished as your Twitter game,” Manning wrote. “Don’t hit it in the lumberyard.”
Manning came aboard early Saturday afternoon, passed 14,000 followers in about 30 minutes and approached 50,000 followers in about an hour. He was immediately verified with the coveted blue checkmark. His handle is a simple @EliManning, and his bio contains the one-sentence statement he used to say goodbye at his retirement press conference: “Once a Giant, Always a Giant, Only a Giant.’’
Eli ManningCharles Wenzelberg/New York PostHis profile picture is a classic pose: Eli, smiling, wearing a white shirt, tie and dark sport coat. Very corporate.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP borrowed a line from the movie “Hoosiers’’ for his very first tweet: “To paraphrase Jimmy Chitwood, ‘I don’t know if it’ll make any change, but I figure it’s time for me to start playing social media.’ ’’ Manning included a GIF of Chitwood going up for the game-winning shot.
Manning, at least initially, opted to follow just 10 accounts, and none are any individuals. He is following the official accounts of the Giants and the NFL, as well as three accounts linked to his college, Ole Miss. Manning is also following organizations in which he has charitable connections: Robin Hood NYC, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, March of Dimes, TackleKidsCancer and Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
He later added an 11th account and his first individual person, former teammate and center Shaun O’Hara.
In mid-April, former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes wrote on Twitter he was campaigning hard for Manning to open a Twitter account. Manning told Tynes he was thinking about it, and Tynes responded by telling Manning he would quickly get to 1 million followers.
Tynes told The Post on Saturday “I am taking 70 percent credit and will give O’Hara 20 percent. Eli is about 10 percent responsible.”
Anticipating Manning the tweeter, Tynes said “It will be fun. Can’t wait for people to see his personality and how funny he can be.”
Receiver Darius Slayton, who as a rookie last season got to catch three touchdown passes thrown from Manning, welcomed Manning to Twitter and added, “Deep down I’m really mad you already got more followers than me.’’ Slayton has 24,400 followers.
Manning made life easy for Pat Hanlon, the Giants’ senior vice president of communications, during their 16 years together. Seeing Manning open an account, Hanlon tweeted, “Well, well, well … the worm has turned! This oughta be fun.’’
Former Giants tight end Kevin Boss may have had the best reaction of all.
“I still can’t believe this!” he wrote on Twitter.
