ALBANY — Chris Snee walked out of the Giants’ cafeteria after lunch wearing a black T-shirt with an unusual message emblazoned across his chest. The offensive lineman’s shirt proclaimed “I love Eli,’’ with a bright red heart representing the word “love.”
Whoa.
“I love Eli,’’ Snee explained, a deadpan grin forming on his face. “I mean, who doesn’t? It’s easier for me to wear this shirt than to just say that I love him. It’s more masculine to do it this way.’’
Loving Eli is all the rage around the Giants, especially after the low-key quarterback gained his second Super Bowl MVP award in a four-year span. But strong emotion is not what Manning is all about because a rock-steady approach rarely necessitates the need for wild mood swings. He has become a star quarterback, but doesn’t act like one, which is why he is not above pulling pranks on unsuspecting teammates and, even more tellingly, he’s just as often the victim of mayhem directed toward him.
“Listen, we’ve always made fun of the guy,’’ Snee said. “He’s a goofy guy. He’s easy to make fun of, from his running motion, I love when he wears cutoff shirts to try to show off his arms. He’ll fire right back, that’s why no one’s uncomfortable being around him. He’s obviously an elite quarterback, two-time Super Bowl MVP, but he’s just another guy on the team.’’
This summer in training camp, Manning has walked directly into the lions’ den, opting for the first time to share a dorm suite with Snee and David Diehl, offensive linemen who protect him on Sundays and cut him down to size most other times.
“Of course they gave me the small room,’’ Manning told The Post. “That’s just the way it goes.’’
He’s accustomed to such antics.
“Offensive linemen always eventually get into it a little bit,’’ Eli said. “I got to watch on that, I’m rooming with two of ’em. You got to be extra careful.’’
In years gone by, Rich Seubert nailed Manning with the purple dye in his socks or gloves trick. One time, Eli recalled, former center Shaun O’Hara “removed my EZ-Pass driving back home after camp so all of a sudden I got like a bunch of fines and tickets. I was going through and there was no pass.’’
Proving Manning is respected, but not put up on an untouchable pedestal, even a punter once got into the act.
“I made an early mistake of doing a prank on [Jeff] Feagles one year and you never mess with a special teams guy, they got way too much time on their hands,’’ Manning said. “All of a sudden I came back and all my tires were flat on my car and I had a little bike pump out there where I could kind of try to push-pump my tires back with air just so I could drive it to a gas station. That was probably the best one that’s ever been done. Don’t mess with kickers or punters.’’
Manning enjoys being back on campus and even more so adores shocking teammates who never suspect the franchise quarterback would resort to childish practical jokes and silly shenanigans. So far, it’s been all-quiet on the Eli front.
“It’s still early, everybody is still locking their doors,’’ Manning said. “You got to let them relax a little bit, get loose, let them think there’s no pranks going on, make sure everyone is in good spirits.’’
Snee rags on Manning as much or more than anyone else — they came out of the same 2004 draft class — but knows there’s a time and place.
“Listen, when he’s in the meeting room or on the field you can’t mess around with him but when he’s off the field we have fun,’’ Snee said.
As for the T-shirt, Manning said he didn’t notice it.
“He didn’t tell me he loved me back of anything like that,’’ Snee said, “but I know he does.’’