On Monday, Odell Beckham Jr. and other members of the Giants flew to Miami on their day off and spent time on a boat. While on the boat, many went shirtless in a photo that grabbed the attention of many for a variety of reasons. Quarterback Eli Manning, however, was not a part of this equation.
So OBJ, Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz, and Roger Lewis flew to Miami last night, went clubbing, and are on a boat. Living life. #Giants pic.twitter.com/SE6QqfuYfT
— Justin Witmondt (@JustinWitmondt) January 2, 2017
On Tuesday, Eli Manning had a very dad-like response to the photo. He joked that they wouldn’t let him in it to reporters.
More Eli Manning in Bieber-Gate: "I was telling people I'm the one who took the picture. They just wouldn't let me in with my shirt off."
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) January 3, 2017
Eli continued, joking about their lack of preparation:
Eli Manning was "a little disappointed" in photos of his WRs on a boat in Miami. "They didn't pack accordingly. They didn't have any shirts"
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) January 3, 2017
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Eli wasn’t invited. After all, Victor Cruz hasn’t been happy with a lack of targets on the field.
At the same time, perhaps Eli wanted nothing to do with it. He is a Manning, and they’ve been known to wear shirts in the pool before. He should also give his teammates more credit, that’s a pretty quick turnaround for a trip before they have to prepare to face off against the Packers in the postseason.
Head coach Ben McAdoo shrugged it all off, "Players are off until tomorrow morning. We will see them tomorrow morning.”
Leave it to Eli to be the dad of the team.