Emails show that New York Giants quarterback was apparently in on memorabilia scheme and tabloids call him Eli Manning.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was apparently involved in the now infamous memorabilia scheme.
The Giants were apparently trying to defraud collectors by selling fake game-worn gear as the real thing. Manning, who has a contract with memorabilia dealer Steiner Sports, instructed a team manager in an email to get the fake equipment so that it could be sold as authentic, according to Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding of the New York Post.
“2 helmets that can pass as game used. That is it. Eli,” the quarterback emailed Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba in April 2010. He then emailed his marketing agent Alan Zucker, who requested the helmets, saying “Should be able to get them for tomorrow.”
The emails were filed in New Jersey’s Bergen County Superior Court as part of a lawsuit against the Giants. Three collectors, Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab, and Sean Godwon, filed the lawsuit against the Giants in 2014 for selling phony game-worn memorabilia.
Court papers claim that the quarterback’s emails prove that “Manning was looking to give non-game-used helmets to Steiner to satisfy — fraudulently — his contractual obligation” with Steiner.” On Thursday Brian Brooks, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said “it appears to be the case that someone at the Giants organization deleted” those emails, as well as another, previously disclosed 2008 exchange.”
“The email, taken out of context, was shared with the media by an unscrupulous memorabilia dealer and his counsel who for years has been seeking to leverage a big payday,” the Giants lawyers said in a statement. “The email predates any litigation, and there was no legal obligation to store it on the Giants server. Eli Manning is well known for his integrity and this is just the latest misguided attempt to defame his character.”
On Friday the New York Post and the New York Daily News called Manning a liar by calling him E-Lie Manning in their headlines.
People reacted to Manning’s involvement in the scandal on Twitter.