'I have a lot more to prove'

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Larry Weisman

ALBANY, N.Y. -- "Up. Straight up."

Ask New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin the expected direction of Eli Manning's career, production and potential, and the answer reflects not a learning curve but a linear acceleration.

Up. Straight up. Some players' careers build to and peak in the Super Bowl. For Manning, that showcase game might have been the starting point. In some weird way, he earned the crown jewel of his profession as the Super Bowl MVP before fully convincing most of the football world he could take a team that far.

"It was a huge deal," Manning says during the lunch break at the Giants training camp in Albany. "You always hope to win a championship in anything you do. I've been playing sports a long time, and through high school and...