When Giants quarterback Eli Manning chatted with several Mets players this past Sunday before throwing out the first pitch on Father’s Day – accompanied by his toddler daughter, Ava – it wasn’t the first time he’d spoken with sudden sensation R.A. Dickey, who has tossed back-to-back complete-game one-hitters.
“I talked to him a few years ago, he was having some issues with plantar fasciitis, I’ve become an expert on that, having dealt with it,’’ Manning said Tuesday morning after serving customers at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru in Secaucus, N.J.
There were other connections, such as Dickey attending the University of Tennessee the same time Eli’s older brother, Peyton, was there. Dickey, like Eli’s wife, Abby, is from Nashville, so there were several conversation starters. There was even a request from Eli to Dickey.
“It’s been fun watching him this season, got to watch a little bit of the game last night when he was on the mound,’’ Eli said. “I asked him if I could get up there and he could throw me a few knuckleballs, I just want to see what it looked like but we didn’t quite have enough time.’’
Manning was taking orders and handing out change – once he dropped a few coins, looked up and said “Fumble!’’ – on a day when it was announced he’d joined in partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts. Manning in the next three years will do a series of radio, television and on-line advertisements and promotions for the world’s leading baked goods and coffee chain.
On cue, Manning said “I’m really excited about joining the Dunkin’ Donuts team’’ and added “Since I became a Giant, Dunkin’ Donuts has become a part of my daily routine.’’ As for spending a few minutes serving customers behind the counter and at the drive-thru, he said “It’s fun to be here and spend some time and get to see how the behind the scenes part of it works.’’ Eli acknowledged he’s only had what he considers to be only one “real job’’ in his life.
“Bagged groceries at a grocery store in Mississippi, my grandfather’s store in eighth grade,’’ he said. “Did that for a few weeks. That was probably my only truly working experience. Never had too much of a formal job before.’’
As for his day job, Manning said he made sure to get a workout in earlier that morning before the Dunkin’ Donuts appearance just a long completion away from MetLife Stadium and the Giants’ practice facility.
“Try to manage my time well,’’ Manning said. “The offseason is a time to get some things done , do some things like you want to do, like “Saturday Night Live,’’ those type of opportunities, as long as they don’t affect my preparation for football and my commitment to the Giants. I didn’t miss a single workout this year, was at every team activity, working hard to make sure I’m getting better but also trying to do some things outside of football.’’
Manning reiterated that he and the Giants were caught off-guard when they lost tight end Jake Ballard on waivers to the Patriots.
“We really didn’t see that one coming,’’ Manning said. “Unfortunate. Jake had a big season for us last year and played well, stepped up, one of those guys no one really knew about, didn’t know he could help us out in the passing game, we thought he could help us out in the running game. He did well, had a great feel. He was gonna be on IR anyway this coming season but definitely a guy we wanted to keep for down the road. That’s part of football, we took a little risk and the Patriots grabbed him up. I know we were all bummed to see him go.’’