Eli Manning currently ranks second for most consecutive regular-season NFL game starts by a quarterback. He also led the New York Giants to victory in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI as their captain. Athletic accolades aside, equally notable (especially to a magazine editor) is his style.
“I think it’s important to look sharp,” he says. “As a football player I don’t know if I’d be known for jewelry, or accessories or fashion or anything like that, but I think I always try to look sharp for my press conferences. I [don’t] know if people notice that or not.”
Take, for example, Manning’s Ermenegildo Zegna suit at the elaborate launch for his latest campaign with Swiss watchmaking company Hublot (Zegna is typically his suit of choice). The evening was held at the Metropolitan Club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and the legendary athlete couldn’t have picked a better ensemble to pair with such an elegant night. Manning follows Victor Cruz as Hublot’s new face, and this year’s debut timepiece is especially fashionable. The Classic Fusion Chronograph New York features embellishments of blue throughout the dial, case back, and pebbled “pigskin” football-inspired strap. The watch comes encased with a commemorative box and is limited to 22 editions—one of which now belongs to Eli Manning. “I look at old pictures and I always had a watch on [ever since] I was six years old,” he says of his relationship with the accessory. “And [anyways], I hate being late, I always like being on time, and I always like to know what time it is.”
Classic Fusion Chronograph New York, $13,500, HUBLOT, hublot.com.
Though Eli Manning may have a penchant for sharp style and a great taste in watches, he’s not ready for that to be his new calling card. “I try not to think too much past football, just because this is what I love to do,” he says of a professional future beyond the game. “As a quarterback, if you’re known for football that’s a good thing. That means you’re doing your job well and you’ve done it long enough.” When it comes to what the sports icon still hopes to achieve, football is very much on the brain. “Each year starts over, which is kind of unique and different [to football]. What you did the year before kind of gets washed away and you have to reinvent [yourself].”
Even Manning, who has dominated his literal field, always finds room for improvement. “I work hard to be a good person, and that makes the people around me better as well.” We’d say all of that work amounts to a touchdown.
