Eli Manning and the sometimes-stinky business of changing centers

[Tempest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/43409/eli-manning-and-the-sometimes-stinky-business-of-changing-centers

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Nine different men have started a game at center for the New York Giants since Eli Manning became their quarterback in 2004. One of them left the wrong kind of impression.

"I don't know if it's a PG story or not," Manning said Saturday. "But one of them, I thought about wearing a glove on my right hand after working with him for a while because of, um, well, I figure you can imagine the reasons why."

I could not, so I pressed the question. A little sweaty down there, was it?

"Sweat doesn't bother me," Manning said. "But odor -- an odor can bother you. You've got nine to pick from, so I'm not going to call out the individual. I don't know what was going on, but I had to wash my hands kind of immediately after practice. First thing to do. Hard to get that stench off sometimes."

It's a unique relationship, a quarterback and his center. When you get a new one, it can take some time to get used to each other. Assuming Weston Richburg starts in 2015, he'll be Manning's 10th different starting center and his fifth in the past three years.

Center Swapping

Weston Richburg will be Eli Manning's fifth starting center in the past three years with the Giants and his 10th overall. Here are Manning's centers, ranked by games played (including postseason games):

PLAYER GAMES

Shaun O'Hara 96

David Baas 34

J.D. Walton 16

Kevin Boothe 11

Rich Seubert 8

Jim Cordle 7

Adam Koets 3

Wayne Lucien 2

Grey Ruegamer 1

"Some of them you've got to speed up," Manning said. "Especially when you're in shotgun or silent count and you're back there kicking and they're kind of taking their sweet time to look at you. They're making their calls and they're having talks with the offensive line and I'm saying, 'Hey, I'm sitting back here waiting. ... We've got a play clock.'"

The Giants drill center/quarterback exchange before every training camp practice, and it gets pretty detailed. In part of the routine, Manning holds the ball in his own hands, with the laces on the opposite side of where he likes them, and has Richburg or backup center Dallas Reynolds take it from him. That sets the ball in the center's hands so that, when he's upside down in front of Manning, he can deliver it with the laces exactly where Manning wants them.

From a play-to-play football standpoint, the center in the Giants' offense is responsible for protection calls. Manning plays a role in that, and would take a heavier hand if he felt it was needed. But because Richburg started at left guard as a rookie last year, his transition has been smooth.

"We've talked to each other about it, but it's never been a problem because we both find it easy to adjust," Richburg said. "So maybe he gives a little bit more pressure than some guys I'm used to. Maybe I'm a little bit lower in my stance. So there are some things we have to get used to with each other, but we talk about it."

That's the key -- communication. Manning might not have been able to bring himself to broach the subject of stench with one of Richburg's smellier predecessors. But when it comes to less sensitive personal matters, the two can -- and must -- discuss the details.

"The communication part is the most important," said Giants offensive line coach Pat Flaherty, himself a former center. "If there's an errant snap, you come back to the huddle, 'What happened?' Talk to each other. What are you going to do? Take another snap and not know what happened? So that's the most vital communication, and it's something you can't take lightly."

A quarterback as secure and experienced as Manning has no problem telling a new center if something's wrong, and Richburg has no problem hearing it from a quarterback who has 11 NFL seasons on him.

"I learn a lot from that guy," Richburg said. "Just the way he conducts himself, the professional that he is. He just does everything well. So the interaction has been increased since last year, and that's helped me kind of have a model to model my game after. I'm excited to see where this thing goes. I'd like to be his consistent guy in the middle, and I think that'll open up some space for a close relationship."

Flaherty said he was best man in the wedding for one of his quarterbacks. Richburg has heard that story, but he points out that Manning is already married, so he hopes they can attain a level of closeness that doesn't require his quarterback to have a second wedding. After the way things have gone at the center position for the Giants the past few years, Manning would love to build something with the new guy and stop having to break someone in every couple of years.

"You've got to work with them, definitely," Manning said. "You've got to get in there, get their snaps, their rhythm, the silent count, their rhythm with that. ... It's definitely a different feel in a lot of respects. Everybody snaps it at a little different velocity, different speed, they hit different spots. So you've just got to keep going and make sure you're on the same page and it's consistent every time."

Asked to name all nine of Richburg's predecessors, Manning came up with seven. He obviously got Shaun O'Hara, who leads the way with 96 starts directly in front of Manning. But the second one he named was Grey Ruegamer, whose only start was the playoff opener against Tampa Bay after O'Hara got hurt in the 2007 regular-season finale against the Patriots.

Manning got Wayne Lucier, who was his first, and J.D. Walton, who started all 16 games last year. After a prod about having won a Super Bowl with the guy, he remembered David Baas. And it's hard to get on Manning's case for forgetting the seven starts Jim Cordle made at the position during the forgettable 2013 season.

But at its best, this relationship is a close one, a smooth one, and if not always a comfortable one, an important and unique one.

"It's definitely a close relationship, right away," Manning said. "My hands are in places that not a lot of other people's go."

[GA4M]

I bet the smells are horrid looking at those 300 lb sharts all the time.