Eli Manning will be remembered as the ultimate teammate

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My initial reaction: They could have done without him.

Stick with Kerry Collins, take left tackle Robert Gallery with the No. 4 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, do not give up two first-round picks and one third-round pick and move forward as a franchise without Archie’s son and Peyton’s younger brother.

They were not called Hot Takes back then. Then, now, forever, it was a Bad Take, a view easily shot down and dismissed over the course of a stunningly serene 16-year run that ends Friday, when Eli Manning enters the Giants’ field house and announces his retirement.

All those throws and sly jokes and pranks, changing unsuspecting teammates cell phones to Chinese or sticking dark purple dye…