As they sat across from one another Wednesday morning in the second-floor office at the Giants’ training facility, co-owner John Mara finally understood where Eli Manning was coming from, and why he couldn’t live with the scenario put forth to the quarterback on Monday by coach Ben McAdoo.
But by then, it was too late. The damage — some of it irreparable — already had been done, and no amount of hindsight could change the outcome nor lessen the impact of how bungled the situation had become.
Mara realizes now he should have known better, that he should have known that the quarterback who had given the franchise two Super Bowl championships could not and would not submit to a plan that involved anything less than a total commitment on the team’s behalf.