Toomer called Manning— his former teammate and the guy who lead him to a Super Bowl XLII championship in 2008— the second best quarterback in the division while pumping up Romo's credentials at Manning's expense.
"Tony Romo is probably— if you look at him statistically— he's probably the best quarterback in the NFC East," Toomer said as co-host with Tim Ryan on 'Move the Chains' on SIRIUS radio. "I mean, you look at Eli Manning and what he does in the fourth quarter. But you talk about consistency . . . talk about 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. That guy can play."
Before Giants fans start comparing Toomer's comments to former Giants running back— and current Giants' pariah— Tiki Barber's diss of Eli a couple of years ago, remember Toomer is a radio analyst who is looking to give his unbiased opinions of the game. Barber was just a disgruntled broadcast wannabe looking to lay his shortcomings on someone else.
Even after Ryan agreed with Toomer's adulation of Romo, he tried to throw his co-host a lifeline by stating the fact that Manning has two Super Bowl MVP trophies and championships to show for his career while his rival's mantle has zilch.
Toomer still wouldn't let go of his love for Romo.
"OK, that's fair," Toomer acknowledged. "But I'm talking about for me, if I wanted a guy that is going to throw fewer interceptions and be more productive, higher completion percentage, I'm going to go with Tony Romo."
"I want a guy who is dropping dimes at crunch time," responded Ryan.
"At crunch time he's not as good as Eli but every other time he's pretty damn good," said Toomer.
Later, Toomer acknowledged he forgot Manning played in the NFC East (?) but wouldn't back down, "I stand by what I said."
Toomer's comments got Twitter abuzz with comments from the Giants camp.
Giants PR executive Pat Hanlon tweeted: "QB or golfer?"
Giants defensive back Terrell Thomas posted: "Man toomer my dog and a great giant, helped me a lot as a young rook but aint no way romo better than Eli...both good QB's but...Well"
Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora prepared Toomer for the inevitable: "They will be Booing my guy toomer at Giants stadium. That we can agree on"
You have to love that the DE still calls it Giants Stadium.
Manning finished the 2011 season with a QB rating of 92.9— still less than Romo's 102.5— but, after it's all said and done, the Giants quarterback was the one holding his second Lombardi Trophy over his head last February.
The two quarterbacks had one face-to-face meeting in the post-season. In 2007, Manning's Giants defeated the No. 1-seeded Cowboys in Irving, Texas.
The Giants and Cowboys open the 2012 NFL season with a rare Wednesday night game on Sept. 5.
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