Yes, Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer

BY ADAM GREENE

Word broke late Wednesday that two-time Super Bowl winning New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning had decided here, after his 16th season, that it was time to finally hang up his spurs.

Yes, the last Manning currently playing the NFL (but probably not the last) has officially called it quits after a rocky last three years of his career that saw him benched not once, but twice.

After the news got out, Giants president and CEO John Mara released a statement.

“For 16 seasons, Eli Manning defined what it is to be a New York Giant both on and off the field. Eli is our only two-time Super Bowl MVP and one of the very best players in our franchise’s history. He represented our franchise as a consummate professional with dignity and accountability. It meant something to Eli to be the Giants quarterback, and it meant even more to us. We are beyond grateful for his contributions to our organization and look forward to celebrating his induction into the Giants Ring of Honor in the near future.”

Eli never once led the NFL touchdown passes, yards or completions. He did lead it in interceptions three times in 2007 (20), 2010 (25) and 2013 (27). He has a career .500 regular season record, a perfect 117-117 as a starter. He was the butt of jokes, gags, the lame Manning brother and he is, unquestionably, a first-ballot Professional Football Hall of Famer and there’s no sane argument otherwise.

What makes Eli’s resume ironclad is his performance in the postseason. He was 8-4 and all eight of those victories were over superior teams, mostly on the road or neutral sites and all ended with him not only hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy, but also the Super Bowl MVP award.

When Eli had any semblance of a team around him (and a coach that knew what the hell he was doing), and he made into playoffs, he drug his team to the Super Bowl and, every time, defeated vastly better teams.

Let’s look at the 2007 run. New York entered the NFC postseason at 10-6 and a Wild Card team. They knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa., 24-14. They beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Dallas in the Division Round and, when the whole dream should have been thoroughly wrapped up, went into Green Bay in the NFC Championship and took down the Aaron Rodgers (in his prime) led Packers 23-20 in overtime.

All that should have done is bought them an ass-kicking at the SpyGate-stained hands of the 18-0 New England Patriots, vying to be the first team to pull off an undefeated championship campaign since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Eli led the Giants to victory, 17-14, shocking the entire universe in the process and delivering the first and most painful Super Bowl defeat to the most hated team on the planet. It’s one of my all-time favorite memories.

In 2011, Eli did it again, this time rolling into the playoffs at 9-7. They beat Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons at home 24-2 in the Wild Card game, then once again ended Aaron Rodgers’ season with a 37-20 shelacking of Green Bay in the divisional round. Traveling to San Francisco to face the 49ers, they knocked them off 20-17 to earn, what everyone thought would be a total curb stomp at the hands of the Patriots.

Everybody but me.

Eli was one of the three best postseason quarterbacks of his era. The other two? Tom Brady and Joe Flacco. Yes, Flacco. For real. Look it up.

He was, without debate, a good to great NFL regular season starter all throughout his career until these last few seasons, but that happens to everybody. But when it counted the most, Eli was at his best. He had two shots at taking home the Super Bowl hardware and made it happen. And he deserves a gold jacket for it.

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