Shockey, Burress Ordered To Stop Playing Keepaway From Eli Manning

NEW YORK--Giants receivers Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey were ordered to stop playing keepaway from Eli Manning yesterday during practice. The embarrassing display humiliated the young quarterback and undermined his credibility in front of his teammates.

Coach Tom Coughlin downplayed the incident, but said he was “disappointed” in Shockey and Burress.

“It’s disappointing that they would try to show up their teammate like that,” Coughlin said. “These guys should know better. The way they were tossing the ball back and forth, laughing, while poor Eli ran around like a dog chasing his tail was pathetic. Eli is the quarterback of this team and everybody needs to respect him, or at least pretend to respect him. Or at least make an effort to pretend to respect him. If I can do it, anyone can.”

The keepaway incident took place during the morning practice session while the offense was running pass drills. After a Manning pass to Burress fell short, Burress picked the ball up and tossed it to Shockey, who then pretended to relay it to Manning before passing it back to Burress, who immediately passed it back to Shockey. Manning, frustrated, attempted to intercept the ball but was unsuccessful.

“Come on, you guys!” he screamed, trying in vain to get a hand on the ball. “Cut it out! We are supposed to be doing pass drills!”

“Fine,” Burress said, holding the ball out to Manning. “Here. Take it.” But when Manning reached for it, Burress yanked it away and threw it back to Shockey. The cruel game continued until coach Coughlin stepped in and broke it up.

“Hey, cut the shit!” Coughlin shouted. “You and you, take a lap. You, Manning, get up off the ground. Are you okay? Good, now take this ball, and go lead your team. Don’t worry about those other two guys. They're both overrated anyway. To tell you the truth I'm surprised they were able to get open long enough to play that little game.”

After practice, Manning met with his two teammates behind closed doors. He emerged smiling, claiming to have “cleared the air” with Shockey and Burress.

“We had a good meeting,” said a relaxed-looking Manning. “I just explained to them how exhausting it was for me to have to run back and forth like that and how it would have been easier if they just tossed the ball to directly to me. They explained how much fun it was to see me flailing around like an idiot. So I think we both got our point across.”

The tension between Manning and his two main receiving threats dates back to last year when both Burress and Shockey chose not to attend voluntary offseason workouts with the team, instead choosing to work out in Florida. Last year’s playoffs saw Burress criticize Manning for failing to get him the ball in a 23-0 loss to Carolina, fueling speculation that the relationship between the two had soured.

This year, once again, Burress and Shockey failed to show up for voluntary workouts.

“It’s our choice whether or not to show up for voluntary workouts,” Shockey told reporters. “You shouldn’t look into so much. It's got nothing to do with how we feel about Eli. Frankly, I'm very fond the kid. He’s young, he’s a hard worker, and he’s got talent to burn. He reminds me a little bit of myself when I was younger, except I was more of an asshole. Then again, I went to the University of Miami, so I didn't have much of a choice.”

As for the keepaway incident, all parties involved appear ready to move on.

“It’s over,” Manning said. “It’s just one of those things that every team goes through. I have all the respect in the world for Jeremy and Plaxico and I’m sure they feel the same way about me. Either way, it doesn’t really matter, because I'm the Golden Boy quarterback and they’re just two mediocre receivers who will probably be playing somewhere else in two years. Hopefully they'll be replaced by a couple guys who have brash, outspoken demeanors and can catch the ball. It's possible to be both, you know.”

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