Philip Rivers Slams Giants’ ‘Pathetic’ Decision To Bench Eli Manning

Eli Manning has the unwavering support of a colleague he shares an interesting history with.

Manning was selected No. 1 overall by the then-San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL Draft. Manning never played a down for the Chargers, though, as the team swung a draft-day deal with the New York Giants, who selected Philip Rivers with the No. 4 overall pick.

Manning and Rivers went on to become modern-day iron men for their respective teams, starting game after game. Manning, however, will experience unfamiliar territory Sunday, as Giants coach Ben McAdoo decided Tuesday that the 36-year-old QB will be benched in favor of Geno Smith.

As a result, Manning’s streak of consecutive starts will end at 210. Athletes and sports media members alike have vocalized their frustration over the Giants’ decision, and Rivers became the latest to stand by Manning with a strongly worded response Wednesday.

Manning’s benching directly affects Rivers. The Los Angeles signal-caller soon will own the longest active streak of consecutive starts when he gets the nod for the 188th straight time in Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns.

But if Rivers had it his way, his counterpart would go for No. 211 on Sunday.