Eli Manning proved us all wrong when he steered the New York Giants 83 yards in 2 minutes to beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. We gave him his thumbs up, his MVP award and someone even gave him a nice leather jacket to wear during the championship parade so he wouldn’t, you know, look like a 16 year old kid. Turns out that’s not enough. Mayor David Roberts of Hoboken, New Jersey feels compelled to nurture the Manni-a by compromising the integrity of everyone in New Jersey graciously proposing to grant Eli a permanent fixture in the community with a street named after him.

Mayor David Roberts of Hoboken, N.J., told the New Jersey Star Ledger that the city is kicking around the idea of renaming a city street after New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, a Hoboken resident. But residents are divided on the idea, with some saying Manning’s leading one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history and being named MVP doesn’t justify such an action.

A reality check: it took most of us who were more or less estranged from the New York Giants during the regular season (10-6 will do that) 18 games to get behind him. We admit, we were still doubting him before David Tyree’s amazing catch. So, Jersey residents—engaged in an entire years worth of agony, frustration, hope and jubilation—aren’t quick to jump on that train.

“Kudos to him, but it’s not worth renaming the street,” Marcia Pribylovsky said.

Kinga Burke, a resident in the building where Manning lives, was also opposed.

“Just because he lives in town?” she said. “I think it’s too much, it’s ridiculous. He’s not a historical person.”

Ungrateful S.O.B.’s! “Kinga(!!!) Burke” is obviously not a Giants fan. Get the guy who spent his life savings dedicated to little Johnny’s college/coming home from Marine boot camp party money to weigh in on the issue. He’ll probably demand the city’s name to be renamed completely. And what the hell? The street name might bring some pride to Hobokenites.

Eli Manning Way [Hoboken 411]
Image [Hoboken 411]