Big Blue View
BBV staff answers that question, with some help from Pro Football Hall of Fame voter Gary Myers
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This post first appeared on Big Blue View on Feb. 21, 2024. With the announcement of the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class coming Thursday night, I thought it was appropriate to highlight it again].
Is former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Manning is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time in 2025, and as long-time NFL columnist and Hall of Fame voter Gary Myers tells us in the YouTube video below, Manning’s candidacy is going to cause a tremendous debate.
Myers, in fact, thinks Manning’s candidacy will be the most divisive of his time as a Hall of Fame voter.
We put the question of Manning’s first-year candidacy — not his overall Hall of Fame worthiness — to the Big Blue View contributors. Below, their answers.
Yes.
Whether or not the Hall of Fame voters agree with me when it comes to Easy E is another matter, but I firmly believe Eli was one of the very best of his generation.
We all remember the Super Bowl highlights of Eli to David Tyree, or dropping the ball down the chimney to Mario Manningham. But there’s also the plays Eli would make on a daily basis to the point where they came to be taken for granted — and missed in his absence. From Eli hitting Victor Cruz in stride again and again to propel the UDFA to salsa-dancing stardom, to being the unshakable presence that allowed the Giants to be the Road Warriors and dethrone the Perfect Patriots in 2007. Or the absurd toughness that led to Eli’s historic Iron Man streak (he might still be picking bits of Candlestick Park out of his teeth from the 2011 NFC Championship).
Eli also happens to be 10th all-time in completions, yards, and touchdowns. And yes, Eli is also 12th all-time in interceptions (244), but he still has fewer than Hall of Famers Brett Favre (336), George Blanda (277), Fran Tarkenton (266), Johnny Unitas (253), Dan Marino (252), Peyton Manning (251), and Y.A. Tittle (248). Oh, and Eli also only leads Drew Brees by one (243).
Even the biggest criticism of Eli is right in line with some of the all-time greats.
Now, as to why Eli isn’t widely reckoned as a “no doubt” Hall of Famer like his brother, Brady, Brees or the other greats of their generation, I lay that firmly on the Giants. In my view, Eli was always better than the Giants allowed him to be. For reasons still unbeknownst to me, the Giants never truly built an offense around Eli’s talents and personality. At least not completely. Tom Coughlin’s willingness to attack deep played to Eli’s low-key aggressiveness and the Kevin Gilbride offense took advantage of Eli’s football IQ. However, it did so in a way that was overly intricate and fragile...
