Gatorade Replay: FanHouse Talks With Eli Manning

Will Brinson was Easton-bound and Down for the Gatorade Replay of America's most important high school rivalry.

Eli Manning was kind enough to spend time this past weekend playing the role of "Honorary Coach" for Phillipsburg High School during the Gatorade Replay game in Pennsylvania. And he was even kinder to take time out of his always busy schedule to answer a few questions that FanHouse had to ask. Namely: what's it like to "coach" 30-something high school players, what does he think of the Giants drafting Hakeem Nicks, and did he and Peyton really (and awkwardly) text Matthew Stafford together? Full interview is after the jump.

Will Brinson: Talk about the preparation for these guys, and kind of reliving glory days diving into this whole thing:

Eli Manning: You know, these guys have worked extremely hard. And, honestly, this idea was kind of thrown at them, and I didn't know quite what to think about it, but I know right from the get-go they've worked very hard. They're working out, practicing in cold weather, lifting weights, doing stuff on the side of their regular lives to prepare for this, and I think that's why it's got so much buzz -- 'cause of these guys and the dedication and the preparation they've committed do doing this. That's what's been exciting. These guys are ready -- they kind of knew they had an opportunity that not many people ever get, to replay a high school football game and one more time to throw on the pads, so I've got a great admiration for the players and the coaches for all the hard work and for Gatorade for coming in here and knowing 'once an athlete, always an athlete' and these guys are ready.

Brinson: Alright, you've got a Super Bowl and hit the pinnacle of your career and everything -- does any of this kind of make you wish you had a game that you could replay?

Manning: You know, high school's a special time of your life whether you're playing football or not. But high school football is also a special time. And the pals I made playing high school football and my teammates are still some of my best friends. I was doing an interview with Dan Patrick the other day and he asked kind of the same question, 'Any game you want to replay?' And I had a high school game -- my junior year -- in the third round of the playoffs, we ended up losing that game, but we had a team on the ropes, and we scored the first possession and they turned the ball over, and I threw a would-be touchdown and the receiver dropped it,
next possession they turned it over again and we went down and I missed the guy and we ended up losing the game because we settled for field goals instead of touchdowns ad we had opportunities ... and all of a sudden I'm getting text messages from my receiver telling me the ball was high and he could have caught it and this and that. You know, obviously you have a lot of fond memories of high school, but obviously those games that knocked you out of the season -- you'd like to have those back, but it is a great time.

Brinson: I know you guys have been busy with the Gatorade thing, but I'm sure you had a few minutes to catch the NFL Draft -- how do you feel about the Giants addressing the loss of Plaxico?

Manning: Well, I think that was a need, to try and go after a receiver, and a big guy like Nicks, I think he'll be good for us, and I think he'll work well with our other receivers. And our other receivers have been working hard: Steve Smith, Hixson, Sinorice Moss, David Tyree will be back. But we'll have a good mix of guys, but get to add a new guy into the mix and see how he can help us out.

Brinson: Cool ... one more question -- did you and Peyton really text Matthew Stafford together?

[Eli looks at me like I'm crazy]

Brinson : That's ... that's what they were reporting on ESPN ...

Manning: We didn't do it together ...

Brinson: I didn't know if it was like, 'From Peyton and Eli'.

EM: No, no -- he just happened to send his own and I sent my own. We both know Matthew and he's been to our football camp before and we have his cell phone, so it was an exciting day for him and we just wanted to say it was well deserved.

Brinson: So is he the next great SEC quarterback to make the leap?

Manning: Well, he's got all the talent and hopefully he'll just be in a great situation and go out there and work hard and he's got the ability and I just wish him all the best.

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