Eli Manning was among the Super Bowl MVPs who were acknowledged prior to Super Bowl LX. But unlike the others in attendance, the former New York Giants quarterback was the only eligible one who is not currently a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite a decorated career that includes being a two-time Super Bowl MVP, Manning missed the cut again this year, his second year of eligibility for enshrinement in Canton, Ohio. Despite the snub, Manning doesn’t seem concerned about his place in history.
“It doesn’t keep me up at night,” Manning said in an interview with Jon Gruden. “I’m not gonna be bitter at it. I’m not bitter at the game of football. I loved my teammates. I love the relationships, the friendships, the championships, the parades.
“When I think about football, I think about touchdowns and my buddies and wins and plane rides home. I don’t think about the interceptions. I don’t think about the bad stuff. I think about the positive things. And so if I ever get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I’ll take it as a positive and I’m not gonna think about the years I had to wait to get in.”
Eli Manning got omitted from Pro Football Hall of Fame again: Inside the most complex HOF case ever
Douglas Clawson
Manning perhaps has the most complicated Hall of Fame case in history. He is one of just six players to have multiple Super Bowl MVPs (the other five are Hall of Famers Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and future Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes). He authored two of the most legendary playoff runs in NFL history that culminated in memorable upset wins over the New England Patriots in two Super Bowls, including preventing the 2007 Patriots from joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the NFL’s only perfect teams.
On top of that, Manning was top-10 all-time in career passing yards and touchdown passes at the time of his retirement. He also had the third-most consecutive starts (210) by a quarterback in league history behind only Hall of Famer Brett Favre and 2004 draft classmate Philip Rivers.
While those are certainly Hall of Fame worthy bonafides, Manning’s less flattering numbers are undoubtedly the reasons why he is not a Hall of Famer yet. He led the league in interceptions on three different occasions, completed just 60.3% of his regular season passes and won as many regular season games (117) as a starter as he lost.
Manning hasn’t made it yet, but it’s a safe to assume that he ultimately will be selected for the Hall of Fame at some point. The same can also be said of Bill Belichick, who shockingly was not selected in his first year of eligibility.
Belichick didn’t get selected despite winning eight total Super Bowls and 333 games as a head coach, and Manning has his theory as to why.
“I think he pissed off so many people because he was beating them for so long and didn’t give great interviews that they held a grudge against him,” he said. “But that shouldn’t take away from what he did on the field and winning football games.”
