Giants pull deal to land Manning

NEW YORK — After a tense hour in which Eli Manning was a prospective law student, the NFL’s first family of quarterbacks got what it wanted.

Eli will be a New York Giant.

In one of the more bizarre first hours in recent draft history, Manning was taken with the first pick by the San Diego Chargers, for whom he later announced he wouldn’t play.

Manning then appeared on the stage at the Theatre of Madison Square Garden with his parents, Archie and Olivia, looking as glum as any No.1 pick ever has as commissioner Paul Tagliabue held up a Chargers jersey with “1” on it. He didn’t put on the Chargers hat and boos cascaded down from the galleries.

An hour later, as Manning walked away from the podium at a press conference in which he insisted he would go to law school, someone rushed into the room to say the Giants just obtained him for another quarterback, Philip Rivers, whom they had taken with the fourth overall pick.

“I’m a lot happier now than I was 10 minutes ago,” Manning said, jumping back on the podium. He then returned to the main room for a much happier picture, this one including brother Peyton and agent Tom Condon, the man behind the maneuvering.

Meanwhile, the rest of the draft went on around that soap opera.

With the second pick, Oakland took offensive tackle Robert Gallery of Iowa and with the third, Arizona chose wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh, a ballboy for Cardinals coach Dennis Green when Green coached in Minnesota.

Washington then chose safety Sean Taylor of Miami, who was the first of six Hurricanes chosen in the opening round, a record.

Cleveland paid a high price simply to move up one spot for Miami tight end Kellen Winslow II. Detroit got the Browns’ first-round pick and their second.

The Lions then took Texas wide receiver Roy Williams, who like Taylor and Winslow ranked as players with long-term star potential. And they used a second-round pick to move up late in the first to choose Kevin Jones of Virginia Tech, considered by some the best running back in the draft.

“We felt the second round was a pretty good price to pay,” Browns coach Butch Davis said of the deal that brought him Winslow, who he had recruited for Miami. “He’s going to bring a lot of energy and help this offense. He’s a lightning rod.”

That was typical of the round.

Five wide receivers went in the first 15 picks and six players from Miami in the first 21: Taylor, Winslow; linebackers Jonathan Vilma by the New York Jets and D.J. Williams by Denver; guard Vernon Carey by Miami and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork by New England. That broke a record for most picks from one school in the entire first round, set by Southern California in 1968 and tied by the Hurricanes in 2002.

There were a total of 10 trades, including the Manning headliner. The Giants seemed delighted, implying that Eli could be as good as Peyton, the NFL’s co-MVP last season for Indianapolis.

“We all had the unanimous opinion this was a special quarterback, and you don’t get a chance very many times, for decades, to select someone like him,” general manager Ernie Accorsi said.

But the Chargers made out wonderfully. Not only did they get Rivers, who completed 72 percent of his passes last season at N.C. State, but they also got the Giants’ third-round pick this year and their first and fifth next season. The third quarterback considered on a par with Manning and Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger of Miami of Ohio, ended up going to Pittsburgh with the 11th overall choice.

“We selected Eli, and we were prepared to deal with that,” San Diego general manager A.J. Smith said, bringing up the comparison to John Elway, who in 1983 forced a trade to Denver after being chosen by Baltimore with the first pick. “When the New York Giants selected Philip Rivers, some dialogue took place. Let’s just leave it at that. Obviously we know how it materialized.”

One startling deal was Buffalo acquiring Dallas’ first-round pick, 22nd overall, to take the fourth quarterback of the round, J.P. Losman of Tulane. In return, the Bills surrendered their first-round pick next year and a second- and fifth-rounder this year. Like the Giants and Browns in their deals, they gave up more than the going rate hoping for a player who will have a huge impact.

Philadelphia moved up 12 spots to 16 to take offensive tackle Shawn Andrews of Arkansas, who is even bigger than coach Andy Reid. Andrews has weighed as much as 400 pounds and is now listed at 366.

Minnesota and Miami swapped picks at 19 and 20, the Dolphins moving up one spot to take Carey and the Vikings choosing Southern Cal defensive end Kenechi Udeze with the next choice.

Then St. Louis moved up two spots to take running back Steven Jackson of Oregon State, dealing its own pick at 26 to Cincinnati. The Bengals chose Michigan running back Chris Perry with that choice.

Houston acquired the 27th overall pick from Tennessee and used it to take defensive end Jason Babin of Western Michigan. In return, the Titans got Houston’s second, third, and fourth-round picks.

In a deep draft, the second round was full of players who might normally be first-rounders.

One team that may have been hurt by a trade was Dallas, which coveted defensive tackle Igor Olshansky of Oregon. He was gone to San Diego, however, when the Cowboys made their pick ? running back Julius Jones of Notre Dame, who has speed but may not be the durable every-down back the Cowboys need.

Before the start of the draft, Tagliabue paid tribute to Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals safety who gave up his NFL career to serve as an Army Ranger and was killed this week in Afghanistan.

“Pat Tillman personified the best values of America and of the National Football League,” Tagliabue said, flanked by five Marines. “Like other men and women protecting our freedom around the globe, he made the ultimate sacrifice and gave his life for his country.”

A moment of silence then was held in Tillman’s honor, after which the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanted “U-S-A, U-S-A!”