While Odell Beckham, Jr. was cheering on the North Carolina Tar Heels during their NCAA Championship run earlier this week, New York Giants QB Eli Manning was putting in offseason work at UNC’s hated rivals campus.

There were no yacht or boat parties to be held in Durham, North Carolina on the Duke campus, so obviously OBJ missed the workouts. Because, you know, offseason team building isn’t fun. Plenty of New York Giants did however think it was worthwhile and fun as they had quite the experience learning from none other than Duke’s legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski while they were not on Duke’s football field.

The passing session workouts were attended by most of the receivers not named Beckham including Sterling Shepard, Tavares King, Roger Lewis, and newly signed Giant and former Jet, Brandon Marshall.

Speaking about his first timing throwing to Marshall, Manning was enthusiastic about the possibilities the Pro Bowl receiver presents to the Giants’ offense.

“He’s obviously a big target and smart, asks a lot of questions, he’s going to pick up the offense quickly.” Manning told the NY Post. “And he’s excited.”

Eli is quickly finding his chemistry with his new red zone threat in Brandon Marshall. The two-time Super Bowl winning QB revealed his vision on how to attack other teams with his new teammate, even going as far as to compare it to his time with Plaxico Burress.

“They can be open when they’re not really open. You don’t want to get into a habit, it’s not a jump-ball but you can throw him open. He’s been in lots of offenses and he gets open a lot of different ways, very disciplined in his route-running and understanding concepts.”

Eli Manning the Humanitarian

Manning continues to be one of the most philantrophic professional athletes in New York City and was rewarded for those efforts Thursday night by the National Football Foundation. Eli received a humanitarian award named after former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi, the man who brought him to New York after duping the San Diego Chargers into a draft day trade in 2004.

Eli, who was recognized for his charitable work earlier this year when he was named the NFL’s Man of the Year, has continued his charitable ways with his ‘Tackle Kids Cancer’ program. According to the charity’s website the program who’s proceeds go directly to the Children’s Cancer Institute at the Hackensack University Medical Center has raised over $4.5 million dollars, $100,000 of which came from Manning himself.

The humanitarian effort has spread to Manning’s on the field efforts as well. Eli has continued to say he will provided direction leadership and knowledge to whomever the Giants should bring in to back him up. In discussing Geno Smith as this year’s backup Manning said, “I’ve met Geno a few times over the years, I think he is a talented quarterback.” 

Manning is prepared to welcome in whomever the Giants envision as his successor. He even went on to say if the Giants were to draft a QB in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft, he could help in preparing that player for the NFL.

“It’s fun for me to have new guys, young quarterbacks,” he said. “If I can teach it, the system, it means I know it really well. It’s a great way for me to continue to grow and learn.”

This is why Eli Manning continues to win humanitarian awards and be loved by many. The man truly is selfless.