Eli Manning & Giants Involved in Lawsuit over Memorabilia

Ever since he came to the Giants, Eli Manning has had a very squeaky-clean image.

A do-gooder, who was both humble and a two-time Super Bowl champion is now involved in a hairy memorabilia lawsuit, that claims Manning was "in on" a scam to sell fake game-worn memorabilia. 

According to a report by the New York Post, a lawsuit was field by Eric Inselberg, who is claiming that the Giants locker room manager, Ed Wagner Jr. and equipment managers Joe and Ed Skiba were informed by team officials to lie about the memorabilia being real. 

While the story is still kind of sketchy, Manning's apparent involvement dates back to 2005, when he 

"instructed" Skiba to hand him a football helmet, which he signed and claimed was used during his rookie year. The suit then alleges that Skiba took a unused helmet, doctored it as if it were worn by Manning during Super Bowl XLII and sold it initially to Inselberg. 

"Two bogus helmets that Manning claimed to have worn in the 2012 Super Bowl, as well as jerseys and helmets from 2008, were also ordered to be doctored and then sold, according to the suit.  Included in the lawsuit is a 2008 e-mail exchange between Inselberg and Joe Skiba, in which Skiba appears to acknowledge he created fake game-worn gear at Manning’s request.

Some of Manning’s alleged fakes were sold through famed memorabilia house Steiner Sports, with whom he had an exclusive deal.

Steiner, believing its items to be authentic, sold them “to unwitting customers and sent them via the mail,” the suit says.

Angry buyers started to complain after noticing that markings on their items didn’t match those that appeared in pictures of Manning’s game-day duds.

But Manning told Steiner they were legit, and Steiner resold returned helmets to other buyers, the suit claims." (New York Post). 

It is not clear whether Manning was a willing party in this mess, or whether he knew that the items were indeed fake. It is also not clear if Manning or the Giants franchise made money off of the fake items that were sold. Inselberg is no saint. He was indicted on memorabilia fraud back in 2011, before the charges were dropped in 2013. So this is his way of enacting revenge. 

Based on the story, it seems the real culprits are the equipment managers, and locker room manger. They took the initiative to doctor items as if they were real and sell them. If Manning was in the know on this matter, than he is going to be in big legal trouble -- and his reputation is going to take an even bigger hit.