FrankGifford Posts -- FanHouse

ESPN to Re-Broadcast 'Greatest Game Ever Played' In Color

Remember back in the last 1980s and early 1990s when Ted Turner spent his fortune buying up old films and "colorizing" them?

ESPN plans to do the same thing when they re-broadcast the "Greatest Game Ever Played" this Saturday. The "Greatest Game" was the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants.

The game will celebrate its 50th anniversary on December 28th (not sure why ESPN is deciding to show the game two weeks earlier) and is credited with turning the NFL into a national passion. It was nationally televised on NBC and was the league's first ever sudden-death overtime game.

Fifteen members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were in that game: Johnny Unitas, Sam Huff, Gino Marchetti, Frank Gifford, Don Maynard, Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, Rosey Brown, Lenny Moore, Andy Robustetti, Emlen Tunnell and Jim Parker. Hall of Famer Weeb Ewbank was head coach of the Colts; Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry were coordinators for the Giants.

Frank Gifford: '[Eli Manning] Will Be Better Than His Father'

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has had a target on his back since draft day of 2004. Because of the circumstances that brought him to New York, fans have had no patience for failure and expected perfection almost immediately. The bar was set even higher following his rookie season when fellow 2004 draftee Ben Roethlisberger helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl.

Since then, Eli has been chewed up and spit out more times than I can even count. It seems like the majority of fans have already given up on him and are praying for someone new to step in. However, their logic seems flawed. Many will argue that his inaccuracy equals doom, but fail to note that he has improved in that area every season since becoming a starter. Others will argue that his body language - the deer in the headlights look - demonstrates the lack of being an effective leader. Yet they failed to mention his various comebacks and his overall superb performances in the fourth quarter.

Thankfully, former Giants superstar Frank Gifford is not as pessimistic. Not only does he believe Eli has the tools to be a good quarterback, he also believes he'll top the legacy left by his Father, Archie Manning.

"Get him a couple more receivers and get him a little more time to throw the ball and he'll be better than his Father," Gifford said on MSG's "State of the Giants."

With Tiki Barber now gone, Manning will finally be able to call this "his team." Let the critics call for his head all they want, by this time next year they will all be missing in action.