The Colts are only relevant to this discussion because Peyton was a much better and more accomplished individual player than Eli. However, he did not have Eli's leverage, as his did not have a millionaire All-Pro brother already in the League. Peyton provided that much cache to the name. Plus I didn't argue Eli had no leverage. I said Elway and Bo had different leverage (better, IMO), as they could garner comparable compensation for their athletic abilities from a different professional sport. By comparison, Manning had his last name.
I only mentioned weather once and it was really intended to be a loose reference to Jerry McGuire ("I'll either surf or ski."). Did you really have to disagree with it four times? Anyway, the Chargers were not exactly inept for decades. Free agency and Bobby Ross made them respectable in the early 90s, culminating in a Super Bowl appearance by the middle of the decade, and by the time Manning was drafted, Shottenheimer was bringing them back again. Ebbs and flows are wont to happen with most teams in the Free Agency Era.
Being the #1 pick is irrelevant. Elway and Jackson were #1 overall picks as well. The rest is addressed above...
That's a weird pivot. I'm not sure where any owners' boots were licked, unless you are referring to the draft, a method used by nearly, if not, all major sports leagues. It is how the system has worked for nearly 85 years and agreed to by the union. I actually agree with the second part of this, to a point, but that is where free agency come in.
Finally, I thought it'd be clear that, "the rules of the draft game," would be understood as a figure of speech, i.e. the unwritten rule playing for the team that drafts you, at least initially. Evidently not. C'est la vie, because I didn't say Eli broke a rule per se. I said I thought it was wrong for him to weasel out of San Diego. Again, just my opinion.
