Eli Manning Offers Tua Tagovailoa Advice on How to Play QB in Bone-Chilling Weather
Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is no stranger to starring in freezing cold weather.
Manning enjoyed one the best cold-weather performances in NFL history when he led the Giants to a 23–20 overtime road win at Lambeau Field in the 2007 NFC championship game, despite being faced with a -3°F temperature and -24°F wind chill.
While appearing on “Mad Dog Sports Radio with Chris Russo”, Manning offered advice to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who is entering a wild-card matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in expected frigid temperatures at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"Go out pregame and get a game plan to how the weather feels." stressed Manning. "When the weather gets real, real cold, the ball tends to get slick. In the pregame work a lot of the ball-handling, because you may not always get a great grip on the balls in the shotgun so just work on some of the plays and snaps.
“Have a great plan for keeping your hands warm on the sidelines, so that for every possession the hands are feeling good and you have a good grip on the ball and it comes out how you expect it to."
Words of wisdom for @Tua from @EliManning about playing in the extreme cold! #ColdFront
— Chris Mad Dog Russo (@MadDogUnleashed) January 12, 2024
Check out the entire interview here: https://t.co/XFPxPBl8nQ pic.twitter.com/424X2PJk84
The four-time Pro Bowl signal-caller shared the most important thing Tagovailoa can do is keep his hands warm at all costs.
"I’ve never had a game where I just said, ‘If my hand gets cold, I have zero chance at being successful throwing this football,’” Manning said.
The Dolphins, who won finished 4–4 on the road this season, will look to upset the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who were just 1–3 down the stretch at home.
Besides the weather, Miami will face two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, who is 10-2 at home in the playoffs in his career.