You Can't Spell Lie Without Eli

By Curtis Burdine

Eli Manning is has won two Super Bowls with the Giants in dramatic fashion with passes that came from his right hand. The "Helmet Catch" play is considered one of the greatest in history, and Mario Manningham's sideline grab helped seal yet another win against the Patriots in 2012. If you include Odell Beckham Jr.'s one-handed grab against the Cowboys a few seasons ago, Eli has been apart of arguably three of the top plays in NFL history.

The haters can make valid points against him, though. His regular season play has never lived up to the heroics of his playoff career. In fact, his numbers have been pretty pedestrian compared to other the other quarterbacks of his era - obviously including his own brother. Eli has never led the league in any significant passing category, unless you count interceptions, which he has thrown more than any other quarterback in three different seasons.

While polarizing, no one can take away his rings or his heroic moments. The fact that he has never missed a game in his career is admirable to anyone except his backup. Off the field Eli has also been impressive supporting many different charitable causes, including relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina wrecked his hometown of New Orleans. He was named co-winner of the Walton Payton Man of the Year Award last season (with Larry Fitzgerald), the highest off-the field honor in the NFL recognizing a player's work in the community.

If you grew up in New York as a Giants fan, you root for Eli. You may have his jersey. You might have an autograph or two of the future Hall of Famer. You may even have something of Eli's that was game-worn - or, at least you thought you did.

With the release of e-mails from Eli requesting helmets that "could pass" for game used ( http://deadspin.com/eli-manning-asked-giants-equipment-manager-for-helmets-1794320043 ) , not only does the integrity of Manning' collectibles come into play, but sports memorabilia from anywhere is now suspect. Steiner Sports, the agency that was allegedly selling the fake game-used helmets, offers a wide range of collectibles. They are based right outside of New York City in New Rochelle and deal frequently with New York athletes. As a New Yorker and collector of sports ephemera myself, I regularly receive e-mails from them advertising collectible items at low prices. You tend to trust a big outfit who has so much to offer, but now I believe that their credibility is tarnished. Who knows how many more athletes have contracts to produce "authentic" material for Steiner and other sports collectible agencies and just pass off something fake as the real deal? Maybe Steiner is the only one who engages in this practice, but with the market for sports stuff at an all-time high, I can't imagine no one else is doing it.

We sports fans are incredibly loyal and spend lots of money to watch, attend, and support our favorite teams and players. In return, they receive huge salaries and marketing contracts to sell products to us. The fan should not be taken advantage of by money-hungry corporations who have already been made wealthy by overcharging us for tickets and merchandise for years. To stoop to a level as low as lying about the authenticity of a product to make a few extra bucks not only tarnishes the reputation of the brand but could effectively destroy the entire sports collectible industry if no one can trust the source of the purchase.

I have a few autographed items that I sent in to PSA/DNA ( http://www.psacard.com/cert/ ) to be authenticated by professionals that have no reason to lie about the results. I have also been able to procure autographs and memorabilia directly from the athlete's hands. At this point in time, these will be the only ways I will feel truly secure in knowing that what I have is the real thing. Buying from Steiner and other such companies feels a lot like a Sunday afternoon with Eli Manning on the field - you never no what you going to get.

You Can't Spell Lie Without Eli

Curtis Burdine

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