It’s important to understand the history of events when it comes to judging things.
This is especially true with people.
Some people are loyal. Some are stubborn. Some are reliable. Some are flakes.
We come up with these terms to characterize people based on what they’ve proved to us in the past.
For as long as Eli Manning has quarterbacked the New York Giants, they’ve been an inconsistent, unreliable football team.
You’ll see Manning make some of the greatest plays the game has ever seen, in the biggest spots.
(Mario Manningham, David Tyree)
But you’ll also watch games where he has trouble completing a forward pass, making throws with his eyes closed or with his left hand.