The San Diego Chargers held the top pick in the quarterback-rich 2024 draft. Although Ole Miss signal-caller Eli Manning was considered the top prospect, he expressed his displeasure at the prospect of playing for San Diego, and a deal was worked out that sent Manning to the New York Giants and allowed the Chargers to acquire NC State QB Philip Rivers, the fourth-overall pick.
Manning recently shared his reasons for his 2004 draft decision, prompting widespread reaction in the NFL community.
Eli Manning Explains Decision to Snub the Chargers
At the time, many questioned Manning and compared him to Broncos legend John Elway, citing a similar situation. Elway was also the top prospect in his draft, but refused to play for the then-Baltimore Colts.
During an appearance on “Bussin with the Boys,” Manning detailed what turned him off about the Chargers during a pre-draft dinner.
“I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time,” Manning said. “Marty Schottenheimer was the head coach, who was awesome. I had great respect for him. But they came to work me out in New Orleans, went to dinner, and there was just friction between the head coach, general manager [A.J. Smith], the owners [Spanos family]. They are all yelling — kind of like fighting.”
“We are at a Marriott restaurant. Schottenheimer’s mad like, ‘We’re in New Orleans, and we’re eating at a Marriott?’ So, he’s like pissed,” Manning added. “They are like kind of bickering. It just didn’t seem like there was a whole lot of agreement on things, and like they were committed to building a great winning franchise at that moment.”
Some believe everything worked out for the best.
“In fairness to the Manning family and the Elway family, it worked out pretty well,” Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker said on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“In fairness to the Manning family and the Elway family, it worked out pretty well.”
– @RossTuckerNFL on Eli Manning not wanting to play for the Chargers in 2004 Draft. pic.twitter.com/p9Kp6VsjB9
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 18, 2026
Devine Sports Gospel, an account on X which covers the San Diego Padres, believes this is typical behavior of the Spanos family, who own the Chargers.”Legitimately one of the more interesting clips I’ve seen on Twitter,” they wrote. “Checks out. Marriott dinner is classic Spanos.”
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Chase Snyder also sided with the Manning family after everything came out.
“Archie Manning seems like a really good dude, and the Chargers/AJ Smith firing Marty Schottenheimer a year after they went 14-2 kinda proved Eli’s exact point,” Snyder said.
Another football analyst, this time Chris Fore of Eight Laces, also isn’t a fan of the Spanos family.
Spanos family = poor leaders https://t.co/pyJK2eY5tb
— Chris Fore (@chriscfore) May 17, 2026
NBC’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms broke down their thoughts on “Pro Football Talk.” Simms highlighted that the Chargers were among the league’s most talented teams, but couldn’t get it together. He also mentioned that since San Diego also had Drew Brees on its roster at the time, it could have raised doubts for Manning.
Eli Manning’s pre-draft visit with the Chargers included a dysfunctional dinner. pic.twitter.com/A8Z3UulBRN
— PFT Live (@PFT_Live) May 18, 2026
Doug Rush of FanSided also sided with Manning. “On the @BussinWTB podcast, Eli Manning explains why he didn’t want to play for the Chargers and what led to him being traded to the Giants during the 2004 NFL Draft,” Rush said. “Ultimately, Manning won 2 Super Bowls, won 2 Super Bowl MVPs, and had a Hall of Fame career. Meanwhile, the Chargers won absolutely nothing during that time. In the end, Eli Manning 100% made the right choice.”
The Athletic’s Mike Sando also believes the Mannings made the right move. “Good details from Eli Manning on decision to force trade from Chargers,” Sando said. “He was right about GM/HC friction at that time.”
It seems most of the league has sided with Manning, which isn’t a huge surprise given the Chargers’ reputation at the time, but it is nice to finally get more of the story after all this time.
The Chargers may not have won two Super Bowls like the Giants, but they also landed a franchise quarterback in Rivers, so all was certainly not lost with them.
