Philly Front Office

When you grow up in the (don’t roll your eyes) Central Jersey area you are forced to make a choice. If you choose poorly, you will age rapidly, waste away to nothing, and an old ass knight will mock you for being a Giants fan. However, if you choose wisely, you can save your father’s life and live forever as an Eagles die hard. Before the choice is made though, unbeknownst to you, you are also choosing to live and die on a certain hill of whether Eli Manning should be in the Hall of Fame.

Sunday, October 26, 2025 – New York Giants at Eagles

1pm on FOX at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

After advancing to the final round but falling short last year, Manning is again up for the honor this season. Things will get a little tighter this year though with Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald, and LeSean McCoy joining the candidates. 15 players reach the finals while only 4-8 will be selected. Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly, and Adam Vinatieri have already advanced to the final 15. Will Manning make the Final 15 and get elected?

Average Eli Got Lucky…Twice

The best thing you can say about Eli Manning is that he prevented an eternity of sorrow at the hands of insufferable Bostonians should they have achieved a perfect Patriots season. For that, we all commend him. While that should receive merit, it is more of a footnote in Tom Brady’s eventual HoF induction than a reason for Eli’s. The body of work just doesn’t meet the threshold.

Over 16 seasons, he received 4 Pro Bowl nominations, ZERO MVP votes, and never made any All-Pro team. Basically, he was never considered one of the elite QBs of his generation at any given time. His peers were all-timers like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and of course his brother Peyton, all were regulars in the MVP vote. He is probably the 3rd best QB from his own draft class considering he came in with Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Those two went to more Pro Bowls, Rivers received MVP votes, and both led the league in different offensive categories at different points. Eli only ever led the league in interceptions, which he did 3 times.

The counter argument will be that he won two Super Bowls, but that will ignore that outside of those two seasons, he never even won a playoff game going 0-4. In those 4 games he had only 3 TDs and 7 picks. As all us Eagles fans know too, he was incredibly bad against his arch rival going 10-21 overall. He was only slightly better against the Cowboys going 13-17. If all that doesn’t scream mediocrity, then maybe listen to his overall 117-117 record as a starter.

Eagles at Giants: The Last Day of Giants Happiness

You Play to Win the Game

When it mattered, Eli came up huge. He didn’t just win two Super Bowls, he was Super Bowl MVP twice as well. In both those playoff runs he was outstanding throwing 15 TDs to 2 INTs in the maximum 8 games including 5 game winning drives. Basically, if he doesn’t play to perfection, those Giants teams don’t win.

In this league, you are measured for what you do at the highest level, stats don’t matter. Just because certain QBs can throw the ball 70 yards or are in an offense that requires them to pass a million times, doesn’t mean that they are better or worse than anyone else. When the moment counts, what do you do? Do you have great stats but lose like Justin Herbert and Philip Rivers or do you win …well, win like Eli Manning?

The Giants constantly ran into an Eagles team was at the height of their powers but always came up short in the playoffs. Donovan McNabb never won a championship despite having better teams consistently around him and going to 4 NFC championships. Eli did…twice. Is it better to always be in the thick of things but never win or to win? Exactly.

Manning also brings all kinds of intangibles to the table. While most QBs get hurt and miss time, Eli never did. He started 210 consecutive games. Can you imagine that in this day and age? It should have been even more, but the streak was only broken due to his coach attempting a power play and failing miserably, costing him his job. He simply never got hurt. It wasn’t from not getting hit either considering he was sacked 411 times in his career. Finally, he is simply an awesome dude. He is funny, likeable, and honest, three things that are uncommon for an athlete. This is probably why the New York media was never able to poison him.

Speaking of which, he had to deal with the pressure of that market his whole career. Sure, Peyton is more famous, but he didn’t have to deal with his regular playoff failure being shoved in his face in Indy. Philip Rivers? San Diego couldn’t care less about their QB. What about Big Ben? The media never needed to cover up any Eli scandals. Players like that need to be praised and rewarded.

Prediction

I think Manning gets in eventually for that last reason. He is just so damn likeable. It won’t be this year though. Brees and Fitzgerald will probably make it along with Jahri Evans and Reggie Wayne, maybe even Torry Holt and Terrell Suggs. I was kidding earlier about choosing a side. I don’t think many Eagles fans have any ill will toward Eli especially now that we have our championships. I sure don’t. Those two Super Bowls were bullshit though even if I know ruining the Patriots perfect season was for the greater good.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference