Eli Manning led the Giants to not one but two Super Bowl victories, beating who most consider the best quarterback and best coach in NFL history. Is that enough to enshrine Manning in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Bill Barnwell doesn’t think so.
“Eli Manning was never close to being considered the best quarterback in football in any point during his career,” Barnwell said Thursday on ESPN’s Around the Horn. “I struggle to find a year he would even be considered a top-five quarterback in all of football. The only thing Eli Manning led the NFL in any point of his career is interceptions, which he led three different times as a pro.”
Thirteen quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowl starts. Some, such as Patrick Mahomes, are obviously active. Others, such as Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, aren’t yet eligible. The only eligible quarterbacks in that group are Jim Plunkett and – as the Hall of Fame announced this week – Manning. Is Plunkett more deserving than Manning?
Manning is a Walter Payton Man of the Year honoree and a great television analyst. On the field, he ranks among the top 10 in career touchdown passes, passing yards and completions. In addition to his two Super Bowl MVPs, he also started 222 straight games, the third-longest streak by a quarterback. But Manning’s career regular-season record was just 117-117 (.500) and he never received a regular-season MVP vote.
Barnwell, who did say that Manning’s pass to Mario Manningham in Super Bowl XLVI was the best throw in the history of the game, added that Manning is an important person in football history but not a Hall of Famer.
Plunkett is also an important person in football history, relevant to today because he took a journeyman path to success similar to the castoff quarterbacks atop the standings so far in 2024. A former first-overall selection, Plunkett finally salvaged his career by leading the Raiders to an unprecedented Super Bowl victory as a Wild Card team, as well as an upset over Joe Gibbs and Joe Theismann three years later.
As the selection process and timeline unfold over the next five months, get ready for some intense debates.
And if Manning is voted in, expect a party to rival Mardi Gras the night before the Super Bowl in New Orleans, where Eli and his brothers grew up under their father and mentor, Saints quarterback Archie Manning.
It could conclude a busy winter for the Manning family. Eli’s nephew, Arch, makes his first career college start for No. 1-ranked Texas on Saturday. The College Football Playoff national championship is Jan. 20 in Atlanta.