All it took was for Eli Manning to be benched to have his jersey become one of the top selling in the NFL.
A week ago, then head coach Ben McAdoo and then general manager Jerry Reese decided to bench Manning in favor of Geno Smith — a decision that was met with hysteria by Giants fans. Manning is tantamount to being a legend, the majority of ‘Big Blue’ fans adore him for twice being Super Bowl MVP and his ironman streak of 210 consecutive starts.
The fallout from fans was to not just to support Manning on social media, an upheaval that surely played a part in this week’s firing of McAdoo and Reese, but also apparently to buy his jersey. And buy these fans did.
According to Dick’s Sporting Goods, popularity in Manning’s jersey soared last week.
Manning was No. 50 on Dick’s list of top-selling jerseys in the NFL the week prior to his being benched and the streak ending. But last week, he jumped up over nearly half the list and was No. 27 overall. It was quite a sizeable and unusual jump.
Rarely does a player get benched and see his jersey numbers go up the way Manning’s did.
For comparison sake, teammate Odell Beckham Jr. had the No. 17 best selling jersey according to Dick’s. Carson Wentz, as the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has been for much of the season, was again No. 1 at the national sporting goods store this past week.
