The vote is not a surprise, but Manning should be enshrined … eventually
Legendary New York Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning will have to wait at least one more year to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Manning was not one of the players announced Thursday night as part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
The 2025 Hall of Fame class includes:
Defensive end Jared Allen, wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, cornerback Eric Allen, tight end Antonio Gates.
A maximum of five players can be voted in each year, with enshrinees needing ‘yes’ votes from 80% of committee members.
In a 2024 poll here at Big Blue View, 66% (1,039) of 1,583 voters thought Manning was worthy of being a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. Twenty-nine percent (460) of the voters thought he was Hall of Fame-worthy, but not on the first ballot. Only 5% (84 voters) believed Manning was not worthy of being a Hall of Famer at all.
BBV writers were also split on the subject.
Retired NFL columnist Gary Myers, one of the committee members, had this to say about the Manning decision:
“In the interest of full transparency, I voted for Eli Manning and spoke up for him at our meeting. I believe Manning beating the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl with two-minute drives and being named Super Bowl MVP each time, along with currently being 11th all-time in touchdown passes and yardage, presents a convincing resume,” Myers said. “To get selected in the future, the voters must get past that Manning was never All-Pro or regular season MVP and realize he played when those spots were not so available playing in an era with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Eli’s record was just .500, but Dan Fouts was only two games over .500 and Warren Moon was only one game over .500 — but neither made it to the Super Bowl. In fact, Moon never made it to a conference championship game. Fouts and Moon were each first ballot Hall of Famers.”
Manning’s path to enshrinement won’t get easier in 2026 as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees will be among those eligible for the first time.
Valentine’s View
I am disappointed Manning will not be part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025. I am not, though, the least bit surprised.
Ever since he retired, there has always been a vocal group of NFL analysts — and Hall of Fame committee members — who believe not only that Manning did not deserve enshrinement in his first year of eligibility, but that he may not deserve it at all.
Veteran NFL writer Mike Tanier recently wrote about this on his ‘Too Deep Zone’ substack after speaking with a handful of Hall of Fame voters. Here is what some of them told Tanier:
“Get back to me in five years,” one selector told me flatly. “Seriously, we got a lot of guys to get into the Hall of Fame. And he can wait.”
“Somebody’s gonna have to convince me that he belongs in the Hall of Fame at all,” another selector said.
Other selectors were less emphatic, though no less critical.
“I think he’s a Hall of Famer, eventually,” said one. “If we are talking seven or eight years from now, and we’re talking about putting Eli Manning in the Hall of Fame for two Super Bowl MVPs and creating some of the greatest moments in the history of the game, I’ll buy that. That’s cool.
“But don’t try to tell me that he is one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation.”
So, no, Manning not being selected on the first ballot should surprise no one.
Here is part of what I wrote nearly a year ago in making my argument for why I believe Manning should be a Hall of Famer:
“I think those two moments in time when Manning was the tallest of the Giants as they stood between the greatest dynasty of the 21st century and even more glory, including a perfect season, supersede everything else.
“I have, honestly, always believed the Manning-Tom Coughlin quarterback-coach duo should have won even more Super Bowl titles. They may well have had Plaxico Burress not shot himself in the leg in 2008, destroying what many believe was the best team of the Manning-Coughlin era.
“I think that in 2012 or 2013 believing Manning would be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, probably on the first ballot, would not have drawn much argument. The back half of his career, though, damaged that perception.
“The other thing I have always believed, though, is that the Giants let Manning down by not surrounding him with the talent needed to compete for more championships after that 2011 season. Somewhere along the way the Giants stopped giving Coughlin the kind of players he wanted, and Manning the kind of players he needed.
“I also, though, understand that there are many out there who can’t get past the bad seasons. Can’t get past the 117-117 regular season record. Can’t get past the awkward Manning Face when things went wrong. I think those people are not seeing the forest for the trees, but it’s like politics. No matter what facts you present people to make your case, some folks are dug in and aren’t going to budge in their belief no matter what.”
I like Myers’ point about Fouts and Moon. On a week-to-week basis in the hum drum of the regular season, they were better players than Manning. Joe Namath is in the Hall of Fame with a 62-63-4 record and one great Super Bowl performance. Manning has two.
If those three quarterbacks are Hall of Famers, how can Manning not be one?
In my view you have to grade these things on a curve. The biggest games, the biggest moments, the biggest accomplishments have to be weighed more heavily than whatever you might have done in Week 8 of some long-ago forgotten season.
Manning’s play had everything to do with two of the biggest accomplishments in NFL history. Taking down Tom Brady and Bill Belichick twice in the Super Bowl, once denying them a never-before-accomplished perfect 18-0 season is as big as it gets. You can’t tell the history of the NFL without what Manning and the Giants did in those two postseasons.
To me, that has to make him a Hall of Famer.
Eventually.
Manning by the numbers
Regular season
- Manning is the only player in Giants’ history to play 16 years with the team. He played in a Giants-record 236 games, including 234 starts. The 234 starts are the fourth-most total by a quarterback with one franchise
- Manning started 210 consecutive games from Nov. 21, 2004 to Nov. 23, 2017, the third-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history. Only Brett Favre (297) and Philip Rivers (224) had longer streaks.
- Manning never missed a game because of injury.
Passing stats
- Attempts: 8,119 (11th all-time)
- Completions: 4,895 (11th)
- Yards: 57,023 (11th)
- Touchdown passes: 366 (11th)
Postseason
- Overall record: 8-4
- Super Bowl titles: 2
- Super Bowl MVP awards: 2
- Holds record for most passing yards in a single post-season (1,219 in 2011)
- Manning is one of six players to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. The others are: Tom Brady, 4; Joe Montana and Patrick Mahomes, 3; Terry Bradshaw and Bart Starr, 2.
Franchise records
- Passing attempts: 8,119
- Completions: 4,895 (Postseason: 242)
- Yards: 57,023 (Postseason: 2,815)
- Touchdown: 366 (Postseason: 18)
- Most 300-yard passing games: 51
Giants Hall of Famers
Here are all of the Hall of Famers who had the bulk of their NFL accomplishments with the Giants:
Morris Badgro
Roosevelt Brown
Harry Carson
Ray Flaherty
Benny Friedman
Frank Gifford
Mel Hein
Sam Huff
Tuffy Leemans
Tim Mara
Wellington Mara
Steve Owen
Bill Parcells
Andy Robustelli
Michael Strahan
Ken Strong
Lawrence Taylor
Emlen Tunnell
Arnie Weinmeister
George Young
