Making the Honest Case for Eli Manning as a Hall of Famer

It’s been one week since the 2024 celebration for the latest inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and before the newest representatives of football greatness can barely walk off the stage in Canton, Ohio, a debate has resurfaced involving one of the next legends with his eyes set on the game’s distinguished ballot. 

One that, for someone who grew up witnessing the rare and distinct performances put forth by the individual, is utterly distasteful and ignorant.

Sure, I could be labeled as coming in with a biased perspective for saying that. In my catalog of most memorable football moments, those created by Eli Manning in his 16-year career have gone down in infamy and can be recalled as clear as day all these years later. From the infamous helmet catch with David Tyree to the heroic fourth-quarter thriller amid a defensive beatdown in San Francisco to advance to Super Bowl 46. 

However, I am not giving this take as a fan, but purely as an appreciator of what makes the greatest names in football who they are. The big stats and the rings certainly matter, as do the other tangible accolades, but it’s more so the narratives they write and the obstacles they overcome that create the script to a player’s bust revealing on a steamy summer afternoon in early August. 

Manning, the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback of the New York Giants, has all of these elements locked down on his professional resume and with them, should be welcomed into the Hall of Fame sometime after his candidacy opens up in the summer of 2025.

When looking at the stats, most critics will be quick to cite Manning’s 117-117 record or how he led the NFL in career interceptions and fumbles dating back to the 2000 season. They’ll even point out how he had multiple seasons with more turnovers than touchdowns or just four Pro Bowls to his name, which has only gotten one player with fewer in the great Terry Bradshaw into the halls of Canton. 

On the other side, there is the fact that in his 57,203 career passing yards—which ranked seventh in the NFL along with his 366 touchdowns passes at the time of his retirement—Manning posted seven seasons of at least 4,000 yards and 26 scores, including two three-year runs from 2009-11 and 2014-16. In his two runs to Super Bowls 42 and 46, he had a combined 15 touchdowns and only two picks. The latter journey also saw him average 300 yards per game and some of the greatest fourth-quarter comebacks in modern NFL history. 

Not only was Manning one of the cleanest passers when it mattered in the postseason, he truly was one of the best architects of the fourth-quarter comeback. According to Pro Football Reference, Manning had 27 career fourth-quarter comebacks and 37 game-winning drives, which is good enough for 13th-most in the entire league since 1960. He had two seasons with at least six comebacks under his belt, one of which came in 2011 when he helped keep the Giants season afloat with five triumphs in a six-week span en route to an eventual Super Bowl title.  

In these same comeback games, Manning threw for at least three touchdowns in the game a total of 20 times, and averaged more than 5.2 yards per throw in 25 of them. The Giants would win all these games except one by four points or less, with five holding the big stakes of advancing in the postseason while being the preemptive underdog to some of the greatest teams in modern history.

None of his heroics created better storylines for the football odyssey than his two Super Bowl rallies against the New England Patriots. The first being against arguably the best unit in football that was one win away from the immortality of an undefeated season in 2007. Manning would go 70 yards in 2:45 against the Patriots' elite secondary before authoring two of the game’s unforgettable throws for 40 and 13 yards to Tyree and Plaxico Burress, sealing the upset and capturing the awe of the football world. 

Four years later, he would cross paths with the exact same scenario of needing to march the full length of the field to slay the dragon again. A 38-yard sideline heave to Mario Manningham would help set the stage for a 2:32 masterpiece and then the director would cap off his fourth-quarter thriller 82 yards later with the “don’t score yet” handoff to Ahmad Bradshaw that by the power of fate, ended the Patriots a second time. 

The quarterback who seemingly had his statistical flaws during the regular season was the same man that opposing teams couldn’t seem to stop once he entered the postseason field. He single-handedly steered two wild card teams into the biggest game in sports and did so on the road for most of those trips. In a heated atmosphere in Dallas, the frigid tundra of Green Bay, and the rainy mudpits of San Francisco alike, he was never flustered and showed that his toughness and arm talent would put him anywhere before his last name ever did. 

Even as he aged and was met with less mobility, Manning continued to be the most durable player on the entire Giants roster and captained them through difficult seasons with effort and professionalism despite the obstacles. He didn’t always have the best offensive line or the most talented pass catchers, but worked with what he had to post six more seasons of at least 16 games played, completing at least 60 percent of his throws and surpassing 3,800 yards and 18 touchdowns to hang with the rest of the league in his position.

The best example of this came in 2016 when, despite the Giants having the 26th-ranked offense in total points and 25th in yards, Manning completed a career-high 66 percent of his passes for 4,300 yards and 21 touchdowns to lead New York to one last 11-5 campaign and playoff push. In the wins that year and after it, he was quick to credit the play of his teammates before himself. Yet, he was just as fast to bear the blame when the result went the other direction and he never shied from the often harsh media’s criticisms of his game in those same situations.

When it came time for the Giants to ultimately pass the torch to his successor in Daniel Jones, Manning met the opportunity with grace and offered to be the mentor Jones needed to take on the hardest role in New York sports. He stayed ready whether his name was called to play or not in his swan song season when it could have been easy to check out. He wanted to be a Giant for life and the Giants gave him that opportunity until he decided it was his time. 

Even now, he continues to serve the organization in several different roles and that is what makes Eli Manning great. He wasn’t the most highly-rated player every season, but he knew when to flip the switch when it counted most. He knew how to both set history and ruin it all in the same stroke of his arm and did that twice to the greatest name to ever bless the sport. 

He was a true example of unending loyalty to a franchise when the environment was increasingly distancing itself away from that over the last decade. He was a sign of how to handle one’s career in the biggest and most critical sports town in the entire world. Most of all, he was a leader and a philanthropist that captured the hearts of the Big Apple for his first title until his final victory sendoff from the MetLife Stadium turf. 

So yes, all those things considered, the honest case for Manning is that he belongs in the halls of Canton, if not next summer, then sometime in the near future. It won’t just be for the stats, glorious individual trophies, or even his last name which has provided one of the rare families in sports.

It’ll be because there are many players like him that affected football in other ways that should equally be featured and whose legacies won’t fade for a long time after their careers. Manning is the next in line, so make room for his bust in 2025 or in the years to come.

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