Why Eli Manning is not a Hall of Famer

Why Eli Manning is not a Hall of Famer

  Eli Manning is a 2 time Super bowl  champion/MVP in 16 seasons with the Giants. When you win a Super bowl, Canton could be within reach, and history proves: John Elway, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice, to name a few. But what else has he done in those 14 remaining years?

  People say he's an iron man because of his 234 consecutive starts streak... that produced a .500 record and 12 playoff games to TB 12's 58 (42-16 and 7-3), which is a 12:30 ratio, an 18 game differential. And in those 12 playoff games he went 8-4, with the 8 wins as a wild card and 4 first round exits. He missed the playoffs 10 times. Not good.

He only had 5 double digit win seasons and 1 NFC East title? Not what Hall of Famers do! He lead the league in interceptions 3x's and had double digit turnovers 14 of 16 seasons. He never lead the league in TD'S, yards or won a regular season MVP. Both Manning's never made plays with their legs, but unlike his brother Peyton, he never moved the ball. Now TB12 on the other hand, isn't enough words or paper to break it down. I never shook in my boots when Eli had the ball, instead waiting for him to turn the pigskin (old term for a football) over. I never lost sleep, rent money, or felt like I needed to double check my locks thinking I was the next victim of a time expiring G.W. drive.

  If I'm a free agent I'm not signing with the Giants if I want to win a championship before I'm set to retire in 2-3 years. I might make enough money to pay bills, congestion pricing  and taxes, nothing more. I'll sign elsewhere for less if I can win. When I think of Hall of Fame QB's, I say to myself "What has this individual done consistently in their career, not just once in a while. Let's say I'm a veteran of 10+ years in my mid 30's and a journeyman (someone who bounces around the league on at least 4 teams on 1 year contracts but never gets a long term contract)  with a last shot at a championship, I'm not signing with the Giants. Hall of Famers don't settle for the minimum, just enough, they're hungry for the next one. An athlete who is competing for the championship and thinking about playing in the next one would be a Hall of Famer in my book. Someone who takes less money to re-sign and add teammates in order to get better-- T B 12. Someone who galvanizes the troops late in games. A guy or woman who knows their struggling but will find other ways to contribute. Beef up their defense, pass or block more. Not somebody content with getting a max contract knowing they've done nothing in their career, like Josh Allen or Joel Embiid.

  If I have to rack my brains of what you did in your career, how could Eli be a Hall of Famer. I don't remember Eli's career because of the defense he had and his brother Peyton. Eli was never a regular season MVP finalist either. The late great Hall of Fame coach John Madden anchored the 2001Rams/Patriots Super bowl reiterating " You have to run the clock out and play for overtime." Well, Tom chose not to listen and started booking. A check down here, out of bounds. A handoff here outta bounds. 15 yard pass to the sideline. And here comes Vinatieri... or let me give it to you straight from Coach John Madden and Pat Summerall combined:

" And with no timeouts left, I think could be, I think that the Patriots with this field position you have to just run the clock out. You have to play for overtime. Now I don't think you want to force anything. Here, you don't want to do anything stupid because you have no time outs (t.o.'s) and you're backed up.'' " Brady's in the shotgun and he's going to throw it. Nothing stupid to Jr. Redmond, complete gets to the 20 yard line. "I don't agree with what the Patriots are doing right here. I would play for O.T". "Now just a minute, they have no T.O's. Brady throws and that's to Redmond again and that'll move the sticks, but that doesn't stop the clock , as he did right there. 41 seconds left. This guy is really cool though. (Coach John humbly admits that TB12 is doing a darn good job) But the way he's playing this game today, he has been very impressive with his calmness. Vinatieri loosening on the sideline. Now they need about 20 about 40 more yards before they're going to be in field goal range. Here's Brady, not much pressure throws, (throughout the drive the Rams are calling him overrated) Redmond again first down. I think more clock more importantly than getting the first down, is that he got out of bounds and stopped the clock. And now I kind of like what the Patriots are doing."

" Well the Rams are getting a little too loose with their defense I think." Further in the drive," Brown gets out of bounds and they might be in Vinatieri range with 21 seconds left."

"This is something and I'll admit as a coach and as an analyst, I don't think they should've done but they had the guts. They have a young QB and they did it as they were backed up, they were inside their own 20. They had no time outs and they're calling these plays and making them. At some point you have to let it all hang out."

"Right now it would be a 53 yarder. They'll hurry up the line, maybe he can spike it right here and stop the clock. That's what he'll do. 7 seconds, they've got Vinatieri range." said Pat.

Coach Madden: "I'll tell you what Tom Brady just did gives me Goosebumps."

 Eli never had those moments. Yeah the David Tyree catch, the Mario Manningham catch happened, but that's all I remember because there are only 12 playoff games in his career. When you have Sterling Sheppard, Odell Beckam Jr. and Saquon Barkley at your disposal and you don't make the playoffs, not good. That's all I remember because the rest of his career he was never in playoff contention. OBJ had to join forces with Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford to win the Super bowl. The time to stay relevant was as a trio, but Eli couldn't manage that. No one cared about Joe Judge and whoever else was the head coach, this was Eli's team. How can this be Hall of Fame caliber, while TB12 made the playoffs 20 of 23 seasons?

 In the 10 year championship drought that Tom Brady didn't win championships, the Patriots were always in contention. Be it a trip to the AFC Championship or the Super bowl, losing to Peyton or Ray Lewis. Even when TB12 didn't win the Super bowl (7-3),his teams had the ball with a chance to stay in the mix and win. Nick Foles did his job and won the game, but TB12 set the record with 505 passing yards. If Hall of Famers lose, they make sure you get to the next round hobbled. He went to the Conference Championship 14x's to Eli's 2. Peyton went to 5 and 4 super bowls vs. 2 and 2 for Eli.

Eli played like he didn't care about success. He played like it was a job not a career with a franchise dependant on him. He didn't have effort because when he was showing clear signs of decline and was given the option to sit out the first half, get right and take over in the second half, He chose not to play at all. This paved the way for turn over machine Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones by the way is a younger more mobile version of Eli, but still making the same mistakes. How can this be Hall of Fame caliber.? Can't take the 2 Super bowls away, which I'm grateful, but what else has he done to warrant Canton Ohio? What I remember is Michael Strahan , Antonio Peirce and the defense shutting TB12 down. Eli just needed to give the Giants the lead. There was no high scoring affair. The Giants won by 3 and 4 pts. There was no need for a multiple score comeback because the defense did its job by protecting the lead.

 The Giants had a 200 million dollar defense, Victor Cruz, Plaxico Burris, Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Sheppard. Saquon was drafted 2nd in 2018. Eli couldn't make the postseason and get to the Super bowl the remaining 10 years. OBJ had to go to L.A for his, and Saquon signed with rival Eagles. No one wants to be in New York. As a matter of fact people are trying to get out of the cold. The Jets can't get right, the Nets should go back to New Jersey, and New York is an overall losing town slowly trying to get better, with the Liberty winning their first in 6 tries in 2024. Hall of Famers continue to shine, not be content with the bare minimum. If a potential Hall of Famer never wins a championship it should be because of the teams they were on, not them coming up short. This wasn't the case with Eli because he is the driver for 16 years without missing a game.

 He has a .500 record with 5 double digit win seasons and one division title. He didn't have to run into TB12, or Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, James Harrison, Terrell Suggs or Packman Jones like Peyton did twice a year.

Now let's look at his competition:

The Redskins, Football team, Sentinels whatever

Broken back Tony Romo and the hapless Cowboys

The Eagles and Michael Vick in the division alone

  Jeff Blake, Dan Orlovsky, Doug Flutie, Jon Kitna to name a few, who were these dudes? Don't know, don't care. Who knows what the National Football Conference North or West looked like, after Cris Carter retired, even with Brett Favre there. And he couldn't own the division and make a run in the postseason c'mon? All of those no names became backups or released and Eli stayed. With this inept schedule it should be a clear path to at least the second round, but like I said before 8-4 record, 10 losing seasons. Hall of Fame Qb's in my book don't spend 90% or 62.5% sitting home instead of playing in January, like Eli. Competition matters to me. What can you continue to do for me since you been here nearly 2 decades? Nothing.

  Now let's look deeper: Eli never commanded the Giants to headlines like Peyton. The Giants didn't get better, instead the team regressed. The numbers were terrible, the postseason production was terrible and the overall progress is trash because of Eli doing the minimum. As a New York fan, each year is full of disappointments until the Liberty won their first championship in team history in 2024. Now the Mets and Liberty are our only hope at a championship. Football here in New York shouldn't exist and it's a shame Eli with all that talent on his roster he didn't do more.

 For Eli to be a first ballot and get in on his first attempt, but Tory Holt part of the greatest show on turf is still waiting, would be a sin. I was 20 and 24 when the Giants won the championship and since then I hit 35 and getting older by the day. Not good. 244 int's and 366 passing td's. That's 122 difference. In the division he was in and the weapons he had to throw to, the defense he had, should've easily passed Dan Marino's 420 td's but he didn't because he turned the ball over. I'm not a numbers guy, but 366:244? C'mon.

 When I think of Hall of Fame, especially first ballot, championships and dominance comes to mind, because in my book that's the only thing that matters to me. You never know what game could be your last. What can you continue to do for the franchise, not just a couple of glory seasons? When you've got an entire franchise depending on you to win and 10 times over  you don't even qualify for the playoffs, how is this Canton caliber play? Yes it's hard to win a championship, but coming in dead last should and is unacceptable. Numbers don't matter to me, the scoreboard does. Eli never gave me those heroics.

 A Hall of Famer should be remembered as someone who gave it their best every day. Someone you know can be clutch, a leader and a general to follow. Hall of Famers in my book want to know what went wrong so the issue can be resolved, not get a new contract with no accomplishments. Maybe Eli is a Hall of Famer, but not a first ballot when you have 10 losing seasons with the same team. Numbers mean nothing to me without championships especially when a franchise is depending on you to produce for all draft classes and teammates, after your Super bowl teammates retire and get replaced with a new line up. Doing just enough isn't worthy of being the best in my book. That's why I don't believe Eli is a Hall of Famer. Hall of Fame caliber careers for me are about consistency. What are you going to do with a formidable roster, and with no name utility players like TB12. When I don't remember your career or have to look it up when you played in the 2000's shameful. First ballot Hall of Famers don't need to have a discussion you should already know, and talk about their accolades and spectacular plays. "Remember this game or that play he made?." I don't get that with Eli.

  A Hall of Fame career shouldn't require a debate or scratching heads. It should be a done deal. The only time I think there's a debate is due to the putridity of the franchise or the player's conduct on/off the field. The way the player conducted themselves after the game and with the team. For example the Lions and Barry Sanders. A losing team, but Barry!?, tape speaks for itself. Randy Moss, Tony Gonzales, Champ Bailey and J.J Watt to name a few. I don't believe in ballots. When you get in, you're in no matter how long it takes, and show up! Don't pull a Terrell Owens spectacle (on You Tube)

  I need consistency, dependability, gravitational pull (wow factor) and to feel like I can become a Hall of Famer also. For Eli to be a Hall of Famer in my book sorry. A first ballot, no, no, no! And that's why he wasn't selected in 2025, keep waiting.