Eli Manning couldn’t give the Giants a “Victory Monday” day off from practice like he did last week in the locker room after receiving a game ball.
So he and Daniel Jones helped corral teammates for a Sunday night victory celebration — hours after Jones’ historic five-touchdown performance led the Giants to a 41-35 overtime win with Manning on the bench — at Green Rock Tap & Grill in Hoboken.
The two quarterbacks were seen in multiple videos on social media dancing and playing flip cup, a drinking game.
Only problem? The Giants forgot to include Pat Shurmur.
“They are grown men and they look after each other and they were celebrating a victory,” Shurmur said before wisecracking, “They should’ve invited me.”
The Giants’ chartered train returned from Washington, DC, around 9 p.m. They were in Hoboken — where Manning lived for years before moving his family to Summit — in time to watch “Sunday Night Football.”
“The fact they can’t go enjoy themselves without it becoming public,” Shurmur said, “those are the things I’ll never feel comfortable about.”
Manning and Jones were joined by teammates Spencer Pulley, Reggie White Jr., Julian Love, Saquon Barkley and more for the party. There are other bars in Hoboken that offer a more private setting.
“Team bonding,” Barkley said. “I wouldn’t say we were blowing off steam. It’s New York, so people are going to overreact about it. We are grown men. We can go out and have a drink or two if we want. Nowadays, there are cameras everywhere, so we just have to be a lot smarter and aware of your surroundings [than in the past].”
Comparisons to the infamous boat trip — when Odell Beckham, Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard and other Giants receivers were seen shirtless partying on a boat in Miami on a team day off before the franchise’s last playoff game, a January 2017 loss to the Packers — immediately popped up on social media. The trip received a lot of blame for the Giants’ — especially Beckham’s — erratic play that day.
These Giants have a 4-11 record and less to celebrate (and focus on) than a playoff game, heading into the season finale against the Eagles off of back-to-back wins. This party took place in a local public venue instead of with other celebrities — and the bar clearly sought publicity.
“It humanizes people,” Barkley said. “All the time you think we are athletes who just go and work hard all the time. Sometimes we are able to go and have fun. When you see Eli Manning, it definitely puts a smile on your face.”
Manning made it through 16 years without many moments of public partying. It’s interesting he and the crowd of younger 20-somethings were out in what could be Manning’s final days with the Giants.
It is unknown if Manning will retire at season’s end or look to play elsewhere when he is a first-time free agent, but he made it clear he does not like the role of backup, which is what he would be to Jones if he stayed put.
“You got to see Eli Manning out there flipping a cup over and I think that’s pretty dope, if you ask me,” Barkley said.
Manning, a notorious prankster, appears on video to cheat the rules of flip cup by putting the cup upside down.
“He’s a competitor,” Barkley said. “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. He’s going to find a way to win at everything.”
Jones looks like a better quarterback than flip cup player. Not his game? “I don’t think so,” Barkley quipped.
Barkley said the Giants handled the night responsibly.
“I don’t think they were planning to be caught on videotape, but we’re grown men,” Barkley said. “You have to do it in the right way, which I know we did. You can go celebrate. It’s not the end of the world.”
For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast:
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