Eli is, indeed, a Hall of Famer. Although he was not a first-ballot lock, his two Super Bowl titles and two Super Bowl MVPs put him over the top. He's also second all time in most passes completed (13,957) and third in passing yards (159,868).
In addition to being one of just three quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers) with 200 or more wins, he's also one of only four players with at least 10,000 passing yards, 500 touchdown passes, and 50 playoff victories. The other three are Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, and Dan Marino.
Manning was a force as a rookie when he led the Giants to a 13-3 record before losing 23-14 to John Elway's Broncos in the NFL Championship Game. He went on to win two more Super Bowls with New York, defeating the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in those games. He's the only quarterback in history to win two Super Bowls with different teams.
The six-time Pro Bowler is currently ranked fifth all time in career passer rating (91.4), sixth in touchdown passes (228), and ninth in interceptions (214).
Eli's play, aided by his Super Bowl credentials, was excellent enough to put him in the starting lineup for the Giants for a decade and a half. However, it did not garner him many honors or a berth among the NFL's best. Even still, Eli received a farewell reserved for for the most illustrious athletes. His final game saw him break several records as he led the Giants to an undefeated season. He finished his career with more than 60,000 yards passing and is one of only three quarterbacks (Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning are the others) to start their careers with multiple seasons of at least 10 wins.
Eli came out of retirement in 2014 when New York released quarterback Geno Smith. The Giants had just drafted their new quarterback, Daniel Jones, so they brought back the former starter to be his mentor. But by the end of that season, Jones was ready to take over games so Eli stayed retired again. In fact, he announced his retirement for a third time just before the 2019 season began. This time it was real though; he stayed retired until the season started because he knew it would be hard to come back from an injury this late in his career.
Even though he has played almost every game since he entered the league in 2004, Eli has never appeared in all 16 contests. He has missed games due to injury twice, in 2010 and 2011. Both times, he ended up having surgery on his neck and shoulder, respectively.
Eli Manning, the two-time Super Bowl MVP for the New York Giants, deserves to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible. Eli Manning will be remembered as the best quarterback in New York Giants history. He is a sports hero in New York, having delivered the city two incredible titles. In 2004, he threw for 4,343 yards - a record that still stands today - and 39 touchdowns against only 12 interceptions. He also has the highest career completion percentage (57.1%) among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts.
In his first season as the full-time starter in 2004, Manning led the Giants to an 11-5 record and won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. He was also named the league's top player after throwing for 3,834 yards and 28 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. The next year, he had another great season: 4,331 passing yards, 30 touchdowns vs only nine interceptions. He also had 1,477 rushing yards and six more scores on the ground. Manning helped the Giants win their second consecutive title after beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 21-17 in one of the most memorable games in NFL history.
Manning already has the greatest regular season of any quarterback in Giants history and he is still going strong at age 36. He has played in 152 games over eight seasons (all but one game) and has 80,293 passing yards, 551 touchdowns vs only 384 interceptions.
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